🔗 Share this article

New South Wales authorities have levied a penalty against an US-based online influencer and handed out two driving violation citations for reported negligent driving following a large group of e-bike riders converged on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during peak-hour traffic on Tuesday.

The Incident: A Prohibited Ride

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

"This had a risk of people to be injured and killed," remarked NSW police assistant commissioner David Driver on the following day.

Police indicated they did not chase right away the riders out of concerns for public safety but instead located the group at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the city gardens, at which point they broke up.

Fines Imposed for Influencer

Later in the week, authorities announced they had served the American online personality who goes by the influencer, 26, with two violation tickets for careless operation (not involving death or prior injury), carrying a fine of $562 and penalty points each, connected to the bridge ride-out. They added that inquiries were continuing.

The personality is said to have over 3.4 million subscribers on one platform and over 1.2 million on the social media app.

Influencer's Comments

The online figure gave comments to a major newspaper this week following the event gained traction on digital platforms, stating he was sorry for giving "the biking community" a negative image.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. That was among the safest ride-outs I’ve ever seen," he said. "I am a visitor here, and I intend to come here respecting the laws and norms of Sydney. So when I decided to do a public meeting it was not meant to include a group ride, it was just to greet people near the bridge."

"I’m unfamiliar with the city, it was my fault we found ourselves on the bridge and I had a decision to make: either 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. I chose at the time to turn around."

National Debate on Electric Bike Rules

The increase of electric bicycles on streets across the country has prompted growing calls for regulation. The federal health minister, Mark Butler, commented that non-compliant electric bikes were a "total menace on the road."

"Kids have done stupid things on bikes since the invention of the penny-farthing [but] the injuries that are presenting at our hospital emergency departments are absolutely devastating," he said. "We’ve got to ensure we stop these things coming into the country [and] officers are given the powers to take strong action, to take them away, to destroy them, to dispose of them."

The state reported 226 injuries related to electric bikes in the previous year. However, in the first seven months of the following year, that figure jumped to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four fatalities.