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New South Wales police have levied a penalty against an US-based online influencer and served two traffic infringement notices for alleged negligent driving following a swarm of electric bicycle users converged on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the busy commute on Tuesday.

The Incident: An Illegal Gathering

A group of around 40 people operating electric bikes and motorbikes proceeded along the primary roadway of the bridge, where cycling is prohibited. The assembly then turned around and traveled through the city’s CBD and a nearby district.

"This had potential for people to be injured and killed," stated a senior police official the officer on Wednesday.

Law enforcement indicated they did not chase right away the group due to safety concerns but rather found the group at a scenic Sydney lookout near the city gardens, where they dispersed.

Penalties Issued for Content Creator

On Saturday, authorities stated they had issued the US social media influencer known as Sur Ronster, twenty-six, with two traffic infringement notices for negligent driving (not involving death or prior injury), with a penalty of over five hundred dollars and penalty points each, in relation to the bridge ride-out. Officials noted that the investigation is ongoing.

The personality reportedly has over 3.4m followers on one platform and over 1.2 million on Instagram.

Influencer's Comments

The online figure spoke with a local publication recently following the event spread rapidly on news sites and social media, stating he regretted giving "the biking community" a negative image.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. It was among the safest ride-outs I have witnessed," he told the publication. "I’m coming here as a guest, and I intend to come here respecting the rules and standards of the city. When I decided to do a meet and greet it was not meant to include a ride-out, it was just to greet people near the bridge."

"I’m unfamiliar with the city, I am to blame we found ourselves on the bridge and I had a decision to make: whether the group rides the full length of the bridge and comes back, an illegal act. Or we turn around, basically, before entering the bridge. I chose at the time to go back."

Broader Context on Electric Bike Rules

The increase of e-bikes on streets across the country has prompted growing calls for regulation. The federal health minister, Mark Butler, commented that illegal ebikes were a "complete hazard on the road."

"Kids have done reckless acts on bikes ever since the penny-farthing [but] the injuries that are presenting at our hospital emergency departments are truly severe," the minister said. "We must make sure we prevent these things coming into the country [and] police are granted the powers to crack down, to take them away, to destroy them, to destroy them."

NSW recorded over two hundred injuries associated with electric bikes in 2024. But, in the first seven months of the following year, that number surged to 233 injuries plus four fatalities.