🔗 Share this article

New South Wales authorities have levied a penalty against an American social media personality and handed out two traffic infringement notices for reported negligent driving following a swarm of e-bike riders gathered on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during peak-hour traffic on a weekday.

The Incident: An Illegal Gathering

A group of approximately 40 people operating electric bikes and motorbikes travelled along the primary roadway of the bridge, an area where bicycle riding is banned. The assembly subsequently reversed direction and rode through the city’s CBD and a nearby district.

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

Law enforcement said they did not immediately pursue the group due to safety concerns but rather found the group at a scenic Sydney lookout near the Botanic Gardens, where they dispersed.

Penalties Issued for Influencer

Later in the week, authorities announced they had served the American online personality who goes by Sur Ronster, twenty-six, with two violation tickets for careless operation (not involving death or prior injury), with a penalty of over five hundred dollars and three demerit points each, in relation to the bridge incident. Officials noted that the investigation is ongoing.

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

Influencer's Comments

The content creator gave comments to a major newspaper recently following the event gained traction on news sites and social media, saying he was sorry for giving "the biking community" a bad reputation.

"I accept the blame. It was among the safest gatherings I have witnessed," he said. "I am a visitor here, so I’m going to abide by the laws and norms of Sydney. So when I decided to do a public meeting it was not meant to include a ride-out, it was just to greet people under the bridge."

"I’m unfamiliar with the city, it was my fault we ended up on the bridge and I had a decision to make: either the group completes the entirety of the bridge and turns around, an illegal act. Or we reverse, basically, before entering the bridge. I chose at the time to go back."

National Debate on E-Bike Regulation

The increase of electric bicycles on streets across the country has sparked growing calls for regulation. The federal health minister, Mark Butler, commented that illegal ebikes were a "total menace on the road."

"Kids have done stupid things on bikes ever since the penny-farthing [but] the injuries that are presenting at our ERs 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 destroy them."

NSW recorded over two hundred injuries associated with electric bikes in 2024. However, in the initial half of the following year, that number jumped to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four deaths.