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New South Wales police have issued a fine against an US-based online influencer and handed out two traffic infringement notices for reported negligent driving after a large group of e-bike riders gathered on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the busy commute on a weekday.

The Incident: A Prohibited Ride

A gathering of around 40 people operating e-bikes and motorcycles travelled along the primary roadway of the bridge, where cycling is prohibited. The riders subsequently reversed direction and traveled through the downtown area and Haymarket.

"There was a risk of serious injury or fatalities," stated NSW police assistant commissioner the officer on Wednesday.

Law enforcement indicated they did not chase right away the group out of safety concerns but instead located the group at a scenic Sydney lookout near the city gardens, at which point they broke up.

Fines Imposed for Influencer

On Saturday, authorities stated they had served the American online personality known as 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 three demerit points per notice, connected to the bridge ride-out. Officials noted that the investigation is ongoing.

The influencer is said to have over 3.4m subscribers on one platform and over 1.2m on Instagram.

Influencer's Comments

The online figure gave comments to a major newspaper recently after the incident spread rapidly on digital platforms, saying he was sorry for giving "bike life" a negative image.

"I accept the blame. It was one of the safest ride-outs I have witnessed," he told the publication. "I am a visitor here, so I’m going to come here respecting the laws and norms of the city. When I decided to do a meet and greet it did not involve a group ride, it was just to greet people near the bridge."

"I did not know the area well, I am to blame we found ourselves on the bridge and I had two choices: either the group completes the entirety of the bridge and comes back, which is a crime. Or we reverse, basically, before entering the bridge. And I made the decision at the time to go back."

Broader Context on Electric Bike Rules

The spate of electric bicycles on streets across the country has prompted growing calls for regulation. A senior government official, the minister, commented that non-compliant electric bikes were a "complete hazard on the road."

"Kids have done stupid things on bikes since the invention of the early bicycle [but] the harm that are presenting at our ERs are truly severe," the minister stated. "We’ve got to make sure we stop these things entering the country [and] police are given the authority to crack down, to confiscate them, to crush them, to destroy them."

NSW reported over two hundred injuries associated with electric bikes in the previous year. However, in the first seven months of the following year, that number surged to 233 injuries plus four deaths.