🔗 Share this article

NSW police have issued a fine against an American social media personality and served two driving violation citations for alleged reckless operation following a swarm of e-bike riders gathered on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during peak-hour traffic on Tuesday.

The Incident: A Prohibited Ride

A group of around 40 people operating electric bikes and motorbikes proceeded along the primary roadway of the bridge, an area where bicycle riding is banned. The assembly then turned around and rode through the city’s CBD and a nearby district.

"There was a risk of serious injury or fatalities," remarked a senior police official the officer on Wednesday.

Law enforcement 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

On Saturday, authorities stated they had issued the American online personality who goes by Sur Ronster, 26, with two violation tickets for negligent driving (with no death or previous bodily harm), carrying a fine of over five hundred dollars and penalty points each, in relation to the bridge ride-out. They added that the investigation is ongoing.

The personality is said to have over 3.4 million followers on one platform and over 1.2 million on the social media app.

Influencer's Comments

The online figure spoke with a local publication recently after the incident gained traction on news sites and social media, saying he regretted giving "bike life" a bad reputation.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. It was among the safest gatherings I have witnessed," he said. "I am a visitor here, and I intend to abide by the laws and norms of Sydney. When I decided to do a meet and greet it was not meant to include a group ride, it was just to say hi under the bridge."

"I’m unfamiliar with the city, it was my fault we ended up on the bridge and I had a decision to make: whether the group completes the entirety of the bridge and turns around, an illegal act. Or we reverse, basically, before we’re on the bridge. And I made the decision at the time to turn around."

Broader Context on Electric Bike Rules

The increase of electric bicycles on streets across the country has prompted growing calls for regulation. The federal health minister, 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 early bicycle [but] the harm that are presenting at our hospital emergency departments are truly severe," he said. "We must ensure we prevent these things entering the country [and] officers are granted the powers to crack down, to confiscate them, to crush them, to dispose of them."

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