🔗 Share this article

NSW police have issued a fine against an American social media personality and served two driving violation citations for reported reckless operation after a swarm of electric bicycle users gathered on the famous Sydney landmark during peak-hour traffic on a weekday.

The Event: A Prohibited Ride

A gathering of around 40 people riding electric bikes and motorbikes travelled along the primary roadway of the bridge, an area where bicycle riding is banned. The riders subsequently reversed direction and rode through the downtown area and a nearby district.

"There was a risk of serious injury or fatalities," stated NSW police assistant commissioner David Driver on Wednesday.

Police indicated they did not chase right away the riders out of safety concerns but rather found the group at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the city gardens, where they dispersed.

Fines Imposed for Content Creator

Later in the week, authorities stated they had issued the US social media influencer known as the influencer, twenty-six, with two violation tickets for careless operation (with no death or previous bodily harm), with a penalty of $562 and three demerit points each, in relation to the bridge ride-out. They added that the investigation is ongoing.

The personality reportedly has more than 3.4m followers on one platform and over 1.2m on the social media app.

Creator's Response

The online figure gave comments to a major newspaper recently following the event gained traction on news sites and social media, stating he was sorry for giving "bike life" a negative image.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. That was one of the safest ride-outs I have witnessed," he said. "I am a visitor here, so I’m going to come here respecting the rules and standards of Sydney. So when I decided to do a meet and greet it was not meant to include a group ride, it was just to greet people near the bridge."

"I’m unfamiliar with the city, it was my fault we ended up on the bridge and I had two choices: either the group completes the entirety of the bridge and comes back, an illegal act. Or we turn around, basically, before we’re on the bridge. And I made the decision at the time to go back."

Broader Context on Electric Bike Rules

The increase of e-bikes on roads nationwide has prompted increasing demands for regulation. The federal health minister, Mark Butler, recently said that illegal ebikes were a "total menace on the road."

"Kids have done stupid things on bikes since the invention of the penny-farthing [but] the harm that are coming into our hospital emergency departments are truly severe," he said. "We must ensure we stop these things entering the country [and] police are granted the authority to take strong action, to confiscate them, to destroy them, to dispose of them."

NSW recorded 226 injuries related to electric bikes in the previous year. But, in the initial half of the following year, that number jumped to 233 injuries plus four deaths.