🔗 Share this article

NSW authorities have issued a fine against an US-based online influencer and handed out two driving violation citations for reported negligent driving following a swarm of e-bike riders gathered on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during peak-hour traffic on Tuesday.

The Event: A Prohibited Ride

A gathering of approximately 40 people riding e-bikes and motorcycles proceeded along the primary roadway of the bridge, where cycling is prohibited. The riders then turned around and traveled through the downtown area and a nearby district.

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

Police indicated they did not immediately pursue the group due to concerns for public safety but rather found the group at a scenic Sydney lookout near the city gardens, where they dispersed.

Fines Imposed for Influencer

On Saturday, police announced they had issued the US social media influencer known as Sur Ronster, 26, with two violation tickets for careless operation (with no death or previous bodily harm), carrying a penalty of over five hundred dollars and three demerit points per notice, connected to the bridge incident. They added that the investigation is ongoing.

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

Creator's Response

The online figure spoke with a major newspaper this week after the incident gained traction on news sites and social media, saying he was sorry for giving "bike life" a bad reputation.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. It was one of the safest gatherings I have witnessed," he told the publication. "I am a visitor here, so I’m going to abide by the laws and norms of the city. When I decided to do a public meeting it was not meant to include a ride-out, it was just to say hi under the bridge."

"I did not know the area well, it was my fault we ended up on the bridge and I had two choices: either the group completes the entirety of the bridge and comes back, an illegal act. Or we turn around, essentially, before entering the bridge. I chose at the time to turn around."

Broader Context on Electric Bike Rules

The spate of electric bicycles on roads nationwide has sparked increasing demands for regulation. A senior government official, the minister, recently said that illegal ebikes were a "total menace on the road."

"Kids have done reckless acts on bikes since the invention of the early bicycle [but] the harm that are coming into our hospital emergency departments are absolutely devastating," he stated. "We must ensure we stop these things entering the country [and] officers are granted the authority to take strong action, to take them away, to destroy them, to destroy them."

NSW reported 226 injuries related to ebikes in the previous year. However, in the initial half of the following year, that number surged to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four fatalities.