American Social Media Personality Penalized After Mass Electric Bike Gathering on Iconic Australian Bridge

NSW authorities have issued a fine against an American social media personality and handed out two driving violation citations for reported reckless operation following a large group of e-bike riders gathered on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the busy commute on Tuesday.

The Event: An Illegal Gathering

A group of approximately 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 traveled through the city’s CBD and Haymarket.

"There was a risk of people to be injured and killed," remarked a senior police official the officer on the following day.

Police indicated they did not immediately pursue the group due to concerns for public safety but instead located the group at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the Botanic Gardens, where they dispersed.

Fines Imposed for Influencer

On Saturday, police announced they had served the American online personality known as the influencer, 26, with two traffic infringement notices for careless operation (not involving death or prior injury), with a fine of over five hundred dollars and three demerit points each, connected to the bridge ride-out. Officials noted that inquiries were continuing.

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

Influencer's Comments

The content creator gave comments to a major newspaper recently following the event spread rapidly on news sites and social media, saying he was sorry for giving "the biking community" a bad reputation.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. It was among the safest ride-outs I have witnessed," he told the publication. "I am a visitor here, so I’m going to abide by the rules and standards of Sydney. So when I decided to do a public meeting it was not meant to include a group ride, it was just to say hi near the bridge."

"I did not know the area well, I am to blame we found ourselves on the bridge and I had two choices: either the group rides the full length of the bridge and turns around, which is a crime. Or we reverse, basically, before entering the bridge. And I made the decision at the time to turn around."

Broader Context on E-Bike Regulation

The spate of electric bicycles on roads nationwide has sparked growing calls for stricter rules. A senior government official, the minister, 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 presenting at our hospital emergency departments are absolutely devastating," the minister stated. "We must ensure we stop these things entering the country [and] officers are given the powers to crack down, to take them away, to crush them, to destroy them."

NSW recorded 226 injuries associated with ebikes in the previous year. But, in the initial half of 2025, that figure surged to 233 injuries plus four fatalities.

Adam Carter
Adam Carter

Lena is a civil engineer and writer passionate about sustainable infrastructure and environmental solutions in urban settings.