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New South Wales police have levied a penalty against an American social media personality and handed out two traffic infringement notices for reported reckless operation following a swarm of e-bike riders converged on the famous Sydney landmark during the busy commute on a weekday.

The Event: An Illegal Gathering

A group of approximately 40 individuals operating electric bikes and motorbikes travelled along the bridge’s main deck, an area where bicycle riding is banned. The assembly then turned around and rode through the city’s CBD and Haymarket.

"There was potential for serious injury or fatalities," stated NSW police assistant commissioner the officer on the following day.

Police indicated they did not immediately pursue the group out of safety concerns but instead located the assembly at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the Botanic Gardens, at which point they broke up.

Penalties Issued for Content Creator

On Saturday, authorities announced they had issued the American online personality known as Sur Ronster, twenty-six, with two violation tickets for negligent driving (with no death or previous bodily harm), with a penalty of $562 and penalty points per notice, connected to the bridge ride-out. They added that inquiries were continuing.

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

Influencer's Comments

The online figure spoke with a major newspaper recently after the incident spread rapidly on news sites and social media, saying he regretted giving "the biking community" a bad reputation.

"I accept the blame. That was among the safest gatherings I’ve ever seen," he said. "I’m coming here as a guest, so I’m going to abide by the laws and norms of the city. So when I decided to do a meet and greet 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 a decision to make: whether the group completes the entirety of the bridge and comes back, an illegal act. Or we reverse, essentially, before entering the bridge. And I made the decision at the time to turn around."

Broader Context on E-Bike Regulation

The spate of e-bikes on streets across the country has prompted growing calls for regulation. A senior government official, Mark Butler, commented that non-compliant electric bikes 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 ERs are absolutely devastating," the minister said. "We must ensure we stop these things entering the country [and] police are granted the powers to take strong action, to take them away, to destroy them, to dispose of them."

The state reported over two hundred injuries associated with ebikes in 2024. But, in the initial half of the following year, that figure jumped to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four fatalities.