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New South Wales police have levied a penalty against an American social media personality and served two traffic infringement notices for reported negligent driving following a large group of e-bike riders converged on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the busy commute on a weekday.

The Incident: An Illegal Gathering

A group of around 40 individuals riding e-bikes and motorcycles travelled along the primary roadway of the bridge, where cycling is prohibited. The riders subsequently reversed direction and traveled through the city’s CBD and a nearby district.

"There was a risk of people to be injured and killed," remarked NSW police assistant commissioner David Driver on Wednesday.

Law enforcement said they did not chase right away the riders due to concerns for public safety but rather found the assembly at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the city gardens, where they dispersed.

Fines Imposed for Content Creator

Later in the week, police stated they had issued the American online personality who goes by Sur Ronster, 26, with two violation tickets for careless operation (not involving death or prior injury), carrying a penalty of $562 and three demerit points each, connected to the bridge ride-out. Officials noted that the investigation is ongoing.

The influencer is said to have over 3.4m followers on one platform and more than 1.2m on Instagram.

Influencer's Comments

The online figure gave comments to a major newspaper this week after the incident spread rapidly on digital platforms, stating he was sorry for giving "bike life" a negative image.

"I accept the blame. It was one of the safest gatherings I have witnessed," he told the publication. "I am a visitor here, and I intend to abide by the laws and norms of Sydney. When I decided to do a meet and greet it was not meant to include a ride-out, it was just to say hi under the bridge."

"I’m unfamiliar with the city, it was my fault we found ourselves 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 electric bicycles on roads nationwide has prompted growing calls for regulation. The federal health minister, Mark Butler, commented that non-compliant electric bikes were a "total menace on the road."

"Kids have done stupid things on bikes since the invention of the early bicycle [but] the injuries that are presenting at our ERs are truly severe," he said. "We must make sure we stop these things entering the country [and] officers are granted the powers to take strong action, to confiscate them, to crush them, to destroy them."

NSW recorded over two hundred injuries associated with ebikes in the previous year. However, in the first seven months of the following year, that figure jumped to 233 injuries plus four fatalities.