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New South Wales police have issued a fine against an US-based online influencer and served two driving violation citations for reported negligent driving after a swarm 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 operating e-bikes and motorcycles travelled along the bridge’s main deck, an area where bicycle riding is banned. The assembly then turned around and rode through the downtown area and Haymarket.

"There was potential for serious injury or fatalities," stated NSW police assistant commissioner David Driver on the following day.

Police said they did not chase right away the group due to concerns for public safety but rather found the assembly at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the Botanic Gardens, at which point they broke up.

Penalties Issued for Influencer

On Saturday, police stated they had issued the US social media influencer who goes by Sur Ronster, 26, with two traffic infringement notices for negligent driving (with no death or previous bodily harm), carrying a fine of over five hundred dollars and penalty points each, connected to the bridge ride-out. Officials noted that inquiries were continuing.

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

Influencer's Comments

The online figure gave comments to a local publication this week after the incident gained traction 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 gatherings I’ve ever seen," 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 meet and greet it did not involve a group ride, it was just to greet people under the bridge."

"I’m unfamiliar with the city, I am to blame we found ourselves on the bridge and I had a decision to make: either the group rides the full length of the bridge and turns around, which is a crime. Or we reverse, essentially, before entering the bridge. I chose at the time to go back."

National Debate on E-Bike Regulation

The increase of electric bicycles on streets across the country has prompted growing calls for stricter rules. A senior government official, Mark Butler, recently said that illegal ebikes were a "total menace on the road."

"Young people have engaged in reckless acts on bikes ever since the penny-farthing [but] the harm that are coming into our hospital emergency departments are absolutely devastating," he said. "We’ve got to ensure we stop these things coming into the country [and] officers are given the powers to take strong action, to confiscate them, to crush them, to dispose of them."

NSW recorded 226 injuries associated with ebikes in 2024. But, in the initial half of 2025, that number surged to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four fatalities.