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New South Wales police have issued a fine against an US-based online influencer and handed out two traffic infringement notices for reported negligent driving after a swarm of electric bicycle users gathered on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during peak-hour traffic on Tuesday.

The Incident: A Prohibited Ride

A gathering of around 40 individuals riding e-bikes and motorcycles proceeded along the primary roadway of the bridge, an area where bicycle riding is banned. The assembly subsequently reversed direction and traveled through the downtown area and Haymarket.

"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 concerns for public safety but instead located the assembly at a scenic Sydney lookout near the Botanic Gardens, where they dispersed.

Penalties Issued for Content Creator

Later in the week, authorities announced they had issued the American online personality known as Sur Ronster, 26, with two traffic infringement notices for negligent driving (with no death or previous bodily harm), with a penalty of over five hundred dollars and three demerit points per notice, in relation to the bridge incident. 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.

Creator's Response

The content creator gave comments to a local publication recently after the incident spread rapidly on digital platforms, saying he was sorry for giving "bike life" a bad reputation.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. That was one of the safest ride-outs I have witnessed," he said. "I am a visitor here, and I intend to come here respecting the rules and standards of Sydney. When I decided to do a meet and greet it did not involve a ride-out, it was just to say hi 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 reverse, essentially, before entering the bridge. I chose at the time to go back."

National Debate on Electric Bike Rules

The increase of electric bicycles on roads nationwide has sparked growing calls for regulation. The federal health minister, Mark Butler, recently said that non-compliant electric bikes were a "complete hazard on the road."

"Kids have done reckless acts on bikes ever since 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] police are given the powers to crack down, to take them away, to crush them, to dispose of them."

The state recorded over two hundred injuries associated with electric bikes in 2024. But, in the first seven months of 2025, that figure jumped to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four deaths.