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New South Wales police have issued a fine against an American social media personality and handed out two driving violation citations for alleged negligent driving after a large group of electric bicycle users gathered on the famous Sydney landmark during the busy commute on Tuesday.

The Incident: A Prohibited Ride

A group of around 40 individuals operating electric bikes and motorbikes travelled along the bridge’s main deck, an area where bicycle riding is banned. The assembly subsequently reversed direction and rode through the city’s CBD and Haymarket.

"There was potential for people to be injured and killed," stated a senior police official David Driver on the following day.

Law enforcement indicated they did not chase right away the riders out of safety concerns but instead located the group at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the city gardens, at which point they broke up.

Penalties Issued for Influencer

Later in the week, authorities announced they had issued the American online personality known as Sur Ronster, 26, with two traffic infringement notices for careless operation (not involving death or prior injury), carrying a fine of over five hundred dollars and penalty points each, in relation to the bridge incident. Officials noted that the investigation is ongoing.

The influencer is said to have more than 3.4m subscribers on YouTube and more than 1.2 million on Instagram.

Creator's Response

The online figure spoke with a major newspaper recently following the event gained traction on news sites and social media, saying he regretted giving "bike life" a negative image.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. That was among the safest ride-outs I have witnessed," he told the publication. "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 group ride, it was just to greet people under the bridge."

"I did not know the area well, I am to blame we ended up on the bridge and I had two choices: whether the group completes the entirety of the bridge and comes back, an illegal act. Or we turn around, essentially, before we’re on the bridge. And I made the decision at the time to go back."

Broader Context on Electric Bike Rules

The increase of e-bikes on roads nationwide has prompted growing calls for regulation. A senior government official, the minister, recently said that non-compliant electric bikes were a "complete hazard on the road."

"Young people have engaged in reckless acts on bikes ever since the penny-farthing [but] the harm that are presenting at our hospital emergency departments are truly severe," he said. "We’ve got to make sure we stop these things coming into the country [and] police are granted the authority to crack down, to confiscate them, to destroy them, to dispose of them."

NSW recorded over two hundred injuries associated with ebikes in the previous year. But, in the first seven months of the following year, that figure jumped to 233 injuries plus four deaths.