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NSW authorities have issued a fine against an US-based online influencer and handed out two driving violation citations for alleged negligent driving after a large group of electric bicycle users converged on the famous Sydney landmark during peak-hour traffic on Tuesday.

The Incident: An Illegal Gathering

A gathering of approximately 40 individuals riding electric bikes and motorbikes travelled along the bridge’s main deck, where cycling is prohibited. The assembly subsequently reversed direction and traveled through the downtown area and Haymarket.

"There was potential for people to be injured and killed," remarked NSW police assistant commissioner David Driver on Wednesday.

Police indicated they did not immediately pursue the riders out of safety concerns but rather found the group at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the city gardens, where they dispersed.

Fines Imposed for Influencer

On Saturday, police announced they had served the American online personality known as the influencer, 26, with two traffic infringement notices for negligent driving (not involving death or prior injury), with a penalty of over five hundred dollars and penalty points per notice, connected to the bridge incident. They added that the investigation is ongoing.

The personality reportedly has over 3.4m followers on YouTube and over 1.2 million on the social media app.

Creator's Response

The online figure spoke with a major newspaper recently following the event spread rapidly on digital platforms, saying he regretted giving "bike life" a negative image.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. It was among the safest ride-outs I have witnessed," he told the publication. "I’m coming here as a guest, and I intend to come here respecting the laws and norms of Sydney. So when I decided to do a meet and greet it did not involve a group ride, 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 two choices: whether the group rides the full length of the bridge and comes back, which is a crime. Or we reverse, essentially, before we’re on the bridge. I chose at the time to go back."

Broader Context on Electric Bike Rules

The spate of electric bicycles on streets across the country has sparked growing calls for regulation. The federal health minister, the minister, recently said that illegal ebikes were a "complete hazard on the road."

"Young people have engaged in reckless acts on bikes since the invention of the penny-farthing [but] the harm that are presenting at our ERs are absolutely devastating," he said. "We must ensure we stop these things coming into the country [and] officers are given the authority to crack down, to take them away, to destroy them, to destroy them."

NSW reported over two hundred injuries related to ebikes in the previous year. However, in the first seven months of the following year, that number jumped to 233 injuries plus four deaths.