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NSW police have levied a penalty against an American social media personality and handed out two driving violation citations for alleged reckless operation after a swarm of electric bicycle users converged on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the busy commute on Tuesday.

The Event: An Illegal Gathering

A group of around 40 people riding electric bikes and motorbikes proceeded along the primary roadway of the bridge, where cycling is prohibited. The assembly then turned around and rode through the city’s CBD and Haymarket.

"This had a risk of serious injury or fatalities," stated NSW police assistant commissioner the officer on the following day.

Police said they did not immediately pursue the group due to safety concerns but instead located the group at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the Botanic Gardens, where they dispersed.

Penalties Issued for Content Creator

Later in the week, police announced they had served the American online personality known as Sur Ronster, 26, with two violation tickets for careless operation (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. They added that the investigation is ongoing.

The personality is said to have more than 3.4m followers on one platform and over 1.2 million on Instagram.

Influencer's Comments

The online figure gave comments to a major newspaper this week after the incident gained traction on digital platforms, stating he was sorry for giving "the biking community" a negative image.

"I accept the blame. That was one of the safest ride-outs 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. When I decided to do a meet and greet it was not meant to include a group ride, it was just to say hi near the bridge."

"I’m unfamiliar with the city, it was my fault we ended up on the bridge and I had two choices: whether the group rides the full length of the bridge and turns around, 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 E-Bike Regulation

The increase of electric bicycles on roads nationwide has prompted increasing demands for stricter rules. The federal health minister, Mark Butler, recently said that non-compliant electric bikes were a "total menace on the road."

"Young people have engaged in reckless acts on bikes ever since the early bicycle [but] the injuries that are presenting at our ERs 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 take strong action, to take them away, to destroy them, to destroy them."

NSW recorded over two hundred injuries associated with electric bikes in the previous year. However, in the initial half of 2025, that number jumped to 233 injuries plus four fatalities.