🔗 Share this article

New South Wales police have issued a fine against an American social media personality and served two traffic infringement notices for alleged reckless operation following a swarm of e-bike riders gathered on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the busy commute on Tuesday.

The Incident: A Prohibited Ride

A gathering of approximately 40 people operating e-bikes and motorcycles travelled along the bridge’s main deck, an area where bicycle riding is banned. The riders subsequently reversed direction and traveled through the city’s CBD and a nearby district.

"This had potential for people to be injured and killed," remarked NSW police assistant commissioner David Driver on the following day.

Law enforcement indicated they did not chase right away the riders out of concerns for public safety but rather found the group at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the city gardens, at which point they broke up.

Penalties Issued for Content Creator

Later in the week, authorities announced they had issued the US social media influencer who goes by Sur Ronster, twenty-six, with two violation tickets for careless operation (not involving death or prior injury), with a fine of over five hundred dollars and penalty points each, in relation to the bridge incident. They added that the investigation is ongoing.

The personality reportedly has more than 3.4m subscribers on YouTube and more than 1.2m on the social media app.

Creator's Response

The online figure gave comments to a major newspaper this week after the incident spread rapidly on digital platforms, saying he regretted giving "the biking community" a bad reputation.

"I accept the blame. That was one of the safest gatherings I’ve ever seen," he told the publication. "I am a visitor here, so I’m going to abide by the rules and standards of Sydney. When I decided to do a public meeting 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 ended up 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, basically, before entering the bridge. And I made the decision at the time to go back."

Broader Context on Electric Bike Rules

The spate of e-bikes on roads nationwide has sparked growing calls for stricter rules. A senior government official, the minister, commented that illegal ebikes were a "complete hazard on the road."

"Kids have done stupid things on bikes ever since the penny-farthing [but] the injuries that are coming into our hospital emergency departments are absolutely devastating," he said. "We’ve got to make sure we prevent these things entering the country [and] officers are granted the authority to crack down, to take them away, to crush them, to dispose of them."

NSW recorded 226 injuries associated with ebikes in 2024. However, in the first seven months of 2025, that number jumped to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four deaths.