🔗 Share this article

NSW authorities have issued a fine against an American social media personality and handed out two traffic infringement notices for reported negligent driving following a large group of electric bicycle users gathered on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the busy commute on a weekday.

The Event: An Illegal Gathering

A group of approximately 40 individuals riding e-bikes and motorcycles proceeded along the primary roadway of the bridge, an area where bicycle riding is banned. The assembly then turned around and traveled through the city’s CBD and Haymarket.

"This had a risk of people to be injured and killed," remarked a senior police official David Driver on the following day.

Police indicated they did not chase right away the riders due to concerns for public safety but instead located the group at a scenic Sydney lookout near the Botanic Gardens, at which point they broke up.

Fines Imposed for Content Creator

On Saturday, police stated they had issued the US social media influencer who goes by Sur Ronster, twenty-six, with two violation tickets for negligent driving (with no death or previous bodily harm), carrying a fine of $562 and three demerit points per notice, connected to the bridge ride-out. They added that the investigation is ongoing.

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

Creator's Response

The online figure spoke with a local publication this week following the event spread rapidly on news sites and social media, stating he was sorry for giving "the biking community" a bad reputation.

"I accept the blame. It was among the safest gatherings I have witnessed," he told the publication. "I am a visitor here, and I intend to abide by the rules and standards of Sydney. So when I decided to do a public meeting it was not meant to include a group ride, 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 rides the full length of the bridge and turns around, which is a crime. Or we turn around, essentially, before we’re on the bridge. I chose at the time to turn around."

National Debate on E-Bike Regulation

The spate of electric bicycles on roads nationwide has prompted growing calls for regulation. A senior government official, Mark Butler, recently said that illegal ebikes were a "complete hazard on the road."

"Kids have done stupid things on bikes since the invention of the early bicycle [but] the injuries that are presenting at our ERs are truly severe," the minister said. "We’ve got to make sure we stop these things coming into the country [and] police are given the authority to take strong action, to confiscate them, to crush them, to dispose of them."

The state reported 226 injuries related to ebikes in 2024. But, in the initial half of 2025, that number jumped to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four deaths.