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NSW authorities have issued a fine against an American social media personality and served two traffic infringement notices for alleged negligent driving after a swarm of electric bicycle users converged on the famous Sydney landmark during peak-hour traffic on a weekday.

The Incident: An Illegal Gathering

A group of approximately 40 individuals operating e-bikes and motorcycles proceeded along the bridge’s main deck, an area where bicycle riding is banned. The riders subsequently reversed direction and rode through the downtown area and a nearby district.

"This had a risk of people to be injured and killed," remarked NSW police assistant commissioner David Driver on Wednesday.

Law enforcement indicated they did not chase right away the riders due to concerns for public safety but instead located the assembly at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the city gardens, where they dispersed.

Penalties Issued for Influencer

On Saturday, authorities stated they had issued the US social media influencer known as Sur Ronster, twenty-six, with two violation tickets for careless operation (not involving death or prior injury), carrying a fine of over five hundred dollars and three demerit points each, in relation to the bridge incident. Officials noted that inquiries were continuing.

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

Influencer's Comments

The online figure spoke with a local publication recently following the event spread rapidly on news sites and social media, saying he regretted giving "bike life" a negative image.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. It was one of the safest ride-outs I have witnessed," he said. "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 ride-out, 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: whether the group rides the full length of the bridge and comes back, an illegal act. Or we reverse, essentially, before we’re on the bridge. I chose at the time to turn around."

National Debate on E-Bike Regulation

The spate of e-bikes on roads nationwide has prompted growing calls for stricter rules. The federal health minister, Mark Butler, recently said that non-compliant electric bikes were a "total menace on the road."

"Young people have engaged in stupid things on bikes ever since the penny-farthing [but] the harm that are coming into our ERs are absolutely devastating," he said. "We must make sure we stop these things entering the country [and] police are granted the authority to crack down, to confiscate them, to crush them, to destroy them."

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