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NSW police have issued a fine 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 Sydney Harbour Bridge during peak-hour traffic on a weekday.

The Event: A Prohibited Ride

A gathering of approximately 40 individuals operating electric bikes and motorbikes proceeded along the bridge’s main deck, where cycling is prohibited. The riders subsequently reversed direction and rode through the city’s CBD and Haymarket.

"This had potential for people to be injured and killed," stated NSW police assistant commissioner David Driver on Wednesday.

Law enforcement said they did not immediately pursue the riders out of safety concerns but rather found the assembly at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the Botanic Gardens, at which point they broke up.

Penalties Issued for Influencer

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 (with no death or previous bodily harm), carrying a fine of over five hundred dollars and penalty points per notice, in relation to the bridge incident. Officials noted that the investigation is ongoing.

The influencer reportedly has more than 3.4m subscribers on YouTube and more than 1.2m on Instagram.

Creator's Response

The content creator gave comments to a major newspaper recently following the event spread rapidly on news sites and social media, stating he was sorry for giving "the biking community" a bad reputation.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. That was one of the safest gatherings I’ve ever seen," he told the publication. "I am a visitor here, and I intend 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, 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 turns around, an illegal act. Or we reverse, essentially, before entering the bridge. I chose at the time to turn around."

Broader Context on Electric Bike Rules

The increase of e-bikes on roads nationwide has sparked increasing demands for stricter rules. A senior government official, Mark Butler, recently said that illegal ebikes were a "complete hazard on the road."

"Young people have engaged in reckless acts on bikes since the invention of the early bicycle [but] the injuries that are coming into our hospital emergency departments are truly severe," the minister stated. "We must make sure we stop these things coming into the country [and] police are granted the authority to crack down, to take them away, to crush them, to dispose of them."

The state recorded 226 injuries related to ebikes in the previous year. However, in the first seven months of 2025, that number jumped to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four fatalities.