🔗 Share this article

NSW authorities have issued a fine against an US-based online influencer and handed out two traffic infringement notices for reported reckless operation after a swarm of e-bike riders converged on the famous Sydney landmark during peak-hour traffic on a weekday.

The Incident: An Illegal Gathering

A group of approximately 40 people riding electric bikes and motorbikes proceeded along the bridge’s main deck, an area where bicycle riding is banned. The riders subsequently reversed direction and rode through the downtown area and Haymarket.

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

Police said they did not immediately pursue the riders due to safety concerns but instead located the group at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the Botanic Gardens, where they dispersed.

Fines Imposed for Content Creator

On Saturday, police stated they had served the American online personality who goes by Sur Ronster, 26, with two violation tickets for negligent driving (not involving death or prior injury), carrying a penalty of over five hundred dollars and penalty points per notice, connected to the bridge ride-out. Officials noted that the investigation is ongoing.

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

Creator's Response

The online figure gave comments to a major newspaper this week after the incident gained traction on news sites and social media, saying he regretted giving "bike life" a negative image.

"I accept the blame. That was among the safest gatherings I have witnessed," he told the publication. "I am a visitor here, and I intend to come here respecting the rules and standards of the city. So when I decided to do a meet and greet it did not involve a group ride, it was just to greet people under the bridge."

"I did not know the area well, it was my fault we found ourselves 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 we’re on the bridge. And I made the decision at the time to turn around."

National Debate on E-Bike Regulation

The spate of e-bikes on streets across the country has sparked growing calls for stricter rules. The federal health minister, the minister, recently said that non-compliant electric bikes were a "total menace on the road."

"Kids have done reckless acts on bikes since the invention of the early bicycle [but] the injuries that are coming into our hospital emergency departments are absolutely devastating," he said. "We’ve got to ensure we stop these things entering the country [and] officers are granted the authority to take strong action, to take them away, to crush them, to destroy them."

NSW recorded 226 injuries associated with ebikes in 2024. However, in the initial half of the following year, that number surged to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four fatalities.