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New South Wales authorities have issued a fine against an US-based online influencer and handed out two traffic infringement notices for reported reckless operation following a swarm of electric bicycle users gathered on the famous Sydney landmark during peak-hour traffic on Tuesday.

The Incident: A Prohibited Ride

A group of around 40 people operating e-bikes and motorcycles travelled along the bridge’s main deck, an area where bicycle riding is banned. The assembly subsequently reversed direction and rode through the city’s CBD and a nearby district.

"This had a risk of serious injury or fatalities," stated a senior police official David Driver on Wednesday.

Police indicated they did not immediately pursue the group out of safety concerns but rather found the assembly at a scenic Sydney lookout near the city gardens, at which point they broke up.

Fines Imposed for Content Creator

Later in the week, authorities announced they had issued the US social media influencer known as Sur Ronster, twenty-six, with two traffic infringement notices for careless operation (not involving death or prior injury), carrying a penalty of over five hundred dollars and three demerit points per notice, in relation to the bridge ride-out. Officials noted that inquiries were continuing.

The personality is said to have over 3.4m subscribers on YouTube and more than 1.2 million on the social media app.

Influencer's Comments

The online figure spoke with a local publication this week following the event gained traction on news sites and social media, saying he was sorry for giving "bike life" a negative image.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. That was among the safest ride-outs I have witnessed," he said. "I’m coming here as a guest, so I’m going to abide by the laws and norms of the city. When I decided to do a public meeting it did not involve a ride-out, it was just to greet people under the bridge."

"I did not know the area well, I am to blame we found ourselves on the bridge and I had two choices: whether the group rides the full length 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 turn around."

National Debate on E-Bike Regulation

The increase of electric bicycles on streets across the country has prompted increasing demands for regulation. A senior government official, Mark Butler, recently said that non-compliant electric bikes were a "complete hazard on the road."

"Young people have engaged in reckless acts on bikes ever since the early bicycle [but] the harm that are coming into our ERs are absolutely devastating," he said. "We must make sure we stop these things coming into the country [and] police are granted the powers to crack down, to confiscate them, to destroy them, to destroy them."

NSW reported over two hundred injuries related to electric bikes in 2024. However, in the initial half of the following year, that number surged to 233 injuries plus four fatalities.