🔗 Share this article

New South Wales authorities have levied a penalty against an US-based online influencer and handed out two driving violation citations for reported reckless operation following 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 individuals riding e-bikes and motorcycles proceeded along the primary roadway of the bridge, where cycling is prohibited. The assembly subsequently reversed direction 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 indicated they did not immediately pursue the group out of safety concerns but instead located the assembly at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the Botanic Gardens, where they dispersed.

Fines Imposed for Content Creator

Later in the week, authorities announced they had served the American online personality known as Sur Ronster, twenty-six, with two traffic infringement notices for negligent driving (not involving death or prior injury), carrying a fine of $562 and three demerit points per notice, in relation to the bridge ride-out. They added that the investigation is ongoing.

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

Influencer's Comments

The content creator gave comments to a local publication recently following the event gained traction on news sites and social media, saying he was sorry for giving "bike life" a bad reputation.

"I accept the blame. That was among 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 Sydney. When I decided to do a public meeting it did not involve a ride-out, 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: whether the group completes the entirety of the bridge and comes back, an illegal act. Or we reverse, essentially, before entering the bridge. And I made the decision at the time to go back."

Broader Context on E-Bike Regulation

The spate of electric bicycles on streets across the country has sparked increasing demands for regulation. The federal health minister, Mark Butler, commented that non-compliant electric bikes 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 stated. "We must ensure we stop these things coming into the country [and] officers are given the authority to crack down, to take them away, to destroy them, to destroy them."

The state recorded over two hundred injuries related to electric bikes in the previous year. But, in the initial half of the following year, that number surged to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four deaths.