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NSW authorities have levied a penalty against an US-based online influencer and served two traffic infringement notices for alleged reckless operation following a swarm of electric bicycle users gathered on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the busy commute on Tuesday.

The Incident: An Illegal Gathering

A group of approximately 40 people riding e-bikes and motorcycles travelled along the primary roadway of the bridge, where cycling is prohibited. The riders then turned around and rode through the city’s CBD and a nearby district.

"There was potential for serious injury or fatalities," remarked a senior police official the officer on the following day.

Police said they did not immediately pursue the group due to concerns for public safety but rather found the assembly at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the city gardens, at which point they broke up.

Penalties Issued for Influencer

On Saturday, authorities stated they had issued the American online personality known as Sur Ronster, twenty-six, with two violation tickets for careless operation (not involving death or prior injury), carrying a fine of over five hundred dollars and three demerit points per notice, in relation to the bridge incident. They added that the investigation is ongoing.

The personality is said to have more than 3.4m subscribers on one platform and more than 1.2m on Instagram.

Creator's Response

The content creator spoke with a local publication this week after the incident gained traction on news sites and social media, stating he was sorry for giving "the biking community" a bad reputation.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. That was among the safest gatherings 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. When I decided to do a public meeting it did not involve a group ride, it was just to say hi under the bridge."

"I did not know the area well, I am to blame we ended up on the bridge and I had two choices: whether the group rides the full length of the bridge and comes back, which is a crime. Or we turn around, essentially, before entering the bridge. And I made the decision at the time to go back."

Broader Context on E-Bike Regulation

The increase of e-bikes on streets across the country has prompted growing calls for regulation. A senior government official, the minister, commented that illegal ebikes were a "total menace on the road."

"Young people have engaged in stupid things on bikes since the invention of the penny-farthing [but] the harm that are coming into our hospital emergency departments are absolutely devastating," he said. "We must ensure we stop these things entering the country [and] police are given the authority to crack down, to confiscate them, to crush them, to destroy them."

NSW reported over two hundred injuries related to electric bikes in the previous year. But, in the first seven months of the following year, that number jumped to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four fatalities.