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New South Wales authorities have issued a fine against an US-based online influencer and handed out two traffic infringement notices for reported reckless operation after a large group of electric bicycle users converged on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during peak-hour traffic on a weekday.

The Event: An Illegal Gathering

A gathering of around 40 people riding electric bikes and motorbikes travelled along the primary roadway of the bridge, an area where bicycle riding is banned. The riders then turned around and traveled through the city’s CBD and Haymarket.

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

Police indicated they did not immediately pursue the riders out of concerns for public safety but rather found the assembly at a scenic Sydney lookout near the city gardens, where they dispersed.

Fines Imposed for Influencer

Later in the week, police announced they had served the US social media influencer known as Sur Ronster, twenty-six, with two traffic infringement notices for careless operation (not involving death or prior injury), with a penalty of over five hundred dollars and three demerit points per notice, in relation to the bridge ride-out. Officials noted that the investigation is ongoing.

The personality reportedly has over 3.4m subscribers on one platform and over 1.2 million on Instagram.

Influencer's Comments

The online figure spoke with a major newspaper this week following the event spread rapidly on digital platforms, stating he regretted giving "the biking community" 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 rules and standards of Sydney. When I decided to do a public meeting it did not involve a group ride, it was just to say hi under the bridge."

"I did not know the area well, I am to blame we ended up on the bridge and I had a decision to make: whether the group rides the full length of the bridge and turns around, which is a crime. Or we turn around, essentially, before we’re on the bridge. And I made the decision at the time to turn around."

National Debate on E-Bike Regulation

The increase of electric bicycles on roads nationwide has sparked increasing demands for stricter rules. The federal health minister, Mark Butler, 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 early bicycle [but] the harm that are coming into our ERs are truly severe," the minister stated. "We’ve got to ensure we prevent these things coming into the country [and] police are given the powers to crack down, to confiscate them, to destroy them, to dispose of them."

The state reported over two hundred injuries related to ebikes in 2024. But, in the first seven months of the following year, that number jumped to 233 injuries plus four fatalities.