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New South Wales authorities have levied a penalty against an US-based online influencer and served two traffic infringement notices for alleged negligent driving following a swarm of e-bike riders converged on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the busy commute on a weekday.

The Event: A Prohibited Ride

A gathering of around 40 individuals operating electric bikes and motorbikes travelled along the bridge’s main deck, where cycling is prohibited. The riders subsequently reversed direction and rode through the city’s CBD and a nearby district.

"There was a risk of 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 out of concerns for public safety but rather found the group at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the city 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, twenty-six, with two traffic infringement notices for negligent driving (with no death or previous bodily harm), carrying a penalty of over five hundred dollars and penalty points per notice, in relation to the bridge incident. Officials noted that the investigation is ongoing.

The influencer is said to have more than 3.4 million followers on YouTube and more than 1.2 million on the social media app.

Creator's Response

The content creator spoke with a major newspaper recently following the event spread rapidly on digital platforms, saying he was sorry for giving "the biking community" a negative image.

"I accept the blame. It was among the safest gatherings I have witnessed," he told the publication. "I’m coming here as a guest, so I’m going to come here respecting the laws and norms of the city. So when I decided to do a public meeting it did not involve a ride-out, it was just to say hi under the bridge."

"I did not know the area well, I am to blame we found ourselves on the bridge and I had a decision to make: whether the group rides the full length of the bridge and comes back, which is a crime. Or we turn around, basically, before we’re on the bridge. I chose at the time to go back."

National Debate on E-Bike Regulation

The spate of e-bikes on roads nationwide has sparked growing calls for regulation. The federal health minister, the minister, commented that illegal ebikes were a "complete hazard on the road."

"Young people have engaged in reckless acts on bikes since the invention of the early bicycle [but] the harm that are coming into our ERs are absolutely devastating," the minister said. "We’ve got to ensure we stop these things coming into the country [and] police are granted the powers to take strong action, to confiscate them, to destroy them, to destroy them."

The state reported over two hundred injuries related to electric bikes in the previous year. However, in the first seven months of 2025, that number surged to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four fatalities.