🔗 Share this article

NSW authorities have levied a penalty against an American social media personality and served two traffic infringement notices for alleged reckless operation following a large group of e-bike riders gathered on the famous Sydney landmark during the busy commute on a weekday.

The Incident: A Prohibited Ride

A gathering of approximately 40 people riding electric bikes and motorbikes proceeded along the primary roadway of the bridge, an area where bicycle riding is banned. The assembly then turned around and rode through the city’s CBD and Haymarket.

"There was potential for people to be injured and killed," stated a senior police official David Driver on the following day.

Police indicated they did not chase right away the group due to safety concerns but rather found the group at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the Botanic Gardens, where they dispersed.

Fines Imposed for Influencer

On Saturday, police announced they had issued the American online personality who goes by Sur Ronster, twenty-six, with two traffic infringement notices for careless operation (not involving death or prior injury), carrying a fine of $562 and three demerit points per notice, connected to the bridge ride-out. Officials noted that the investigation is ongoing.

The influencer is said to have over 3.4 million subscribers on one platform and over 1.2m on Instagram.

Influencer's Comments

The online figure gave comments to a local publication recently after the incident gained traction on news sites and social media, stating he regretted giving "bike life" a bad reputation.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. It was among the safest ride-outs I have witnessed," he said. "I’m coming here as a guest, so I’m going to come here respecting 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 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: whether the group rides the full length of the bridge and turns around, an illegal act. Or we reverse, basically, before we’re on the bridge. And I made the decision at the time to turn around."

National Debate on E-Bike Regulation

The spate of electric bicycles on streets across the country has prompted growing calls for regulation. The federal health minister, Mark Butler, recently said that illegal ebikes were a "total menace on the road."

"Young people have engaged in reckless acts on bikes ever since the early bicycle [but] the injuries that are presenting at our ERs are absolutely devastating," he stated. "We must make sure we stop these things coming into the country [and] officers are granted the powers to take strong action, to take them away, to destroy 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 figure jumped to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four deaths.