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NSW police have levied a penalty against an American social media personality and handed out two driving violation citations for reported reckless operation following a large group of e-bike riders gathered on the famous Sydney landmark during peak-hour traffic on Tuesday.

The Event: A Prohibited Ride

A gathering of around 40 individuals operating e-bikes and motorcycles proceeded along the bridge’s main deck, an area where bicycle riding is banned. The riders then turned around and traveled through the city’s CBD and Haymarket.

"This had potential for people to be injured and killed," stated a senior police official David Driver on Wednesday.

Law enforcement said they did not chase right away the group due to concerns for public safety but instead located the assembly at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the Botanic Gardens, where they dispersed.

Penalties Issued for Influencer

On Saturday, authorities announced they had served the US social media influencer known as Sur Ronster, twenty-six, with two violation tickets for negligent driving (with no death or previous bodily harm), carrying a fine of $562 and penalty points each, in relation to the bridge ride-out. Officials noted that the investigation is ongoing.

The influencer is said to have over 3.4m followers on YouTube and more than 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 news sites and social media, saying he was sorry for giving "the biking community" a bad reputation.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. That was among the safest ride-outs I’ve ever seen," he said. "I’m coming here as a guest, and I intend to come here respecting the laws and norms of the city. So 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 found ourselves on the bridge and I had a decision to make: either the group rides the full length of the bridge and turns around, an illegal act. Or we reverse, essentially, before entering 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 roads nationwide has prompted increasing demands for stricter rules. The federal health minister, the minister, recently said that illegal ebikes were a "total menace on the road."

"Kids have done stupid things on bikes since the invention of the early bicycle [but] the harm that are coming into our hospital emergency departments are absolutely devastating," the minister stated. "We must make sure we prevent these things coming into the country [and] officers are given the powers to take strong action, to take them away, to destroy them, to destroy them."

NSW reported 226 injuries related to ebikes in 2024. But, in the first seven months of 2025, that figure surged to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four deaths.