US Social Media Personality Fined After Large-Scale Electric Bike Gathering on Sydney Harbour Bridge
New South Wales police have issued a fine against an US-based online influencer and handed out two driving violation citations for reported negligent driving after a swarm of electric bicycle users converged on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during peak-hour traffic on Tuesday.
The Event: An Illegal Gathering
A gathering of approximately 40 people riding e-bikes and motorcycles travelled along the primary roadway of the bridge, an area where bicycle riding is banned. The riders then turned around and traveled through the downtown area and Haymarket.
"There was potential for people to be injured and killed," remarked NSW police assistant commissioner David Driver on Wednesday.
Police said they did not immediately pursue the riders due to concerns for public safety but rather found the assembly at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the city gardens, where they dispersed.
Fines Imposed for Influencer
Later in the week, police announced they had served the US social media influencer who goes by the influencer, twenty-six, with two traffic infringement notices for careless operation (with no death or previous bodily harm), with a fine of $562 and penalty points per notice, in relation to the bridge ride-out. Officials noted that the investigation is ongoing.
The personality reportedly has over 3.4 million subscribers on one platform and more than 1.2m on the social media app.
Influencer's Comments
The online figure spoke with a local publication this week following the event gained traction on digital platforms, stating he regretted giving "bike life" a bad reputation.
"I accept the blame. That was among the safest ride-outs I have witnessed," he said. "I’m coming here as a guest, so I’m going to abide by the rules and standards of the city. 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 ended up on the bridge and I had a decision to make: whether the group completes the entirety of the bridge and comes back, which is a crime. Or we reverse, essentially, before entering the bridge. And I made the decision at the time to go back."
National Debate on E-Bike Regulation
The spate of electric bicycles on streets across the country has prompted growing calls for stricter rules. A senior government official, the minister, recently said that illegal ebikes were a "complete hazard on the road."
"Young people have engaged in reckless acts on bikes since the invention of the penny-farthing [but] the harm that are coming into our hospital emergency departments are truly severe," the minister stated. "We’ve got to ensure we prevent these things entering the country [and] officers are granted the authority to crack down, to take them away, to destroy them, to dispose of them."
The state recorded over two hundred injuries related to electric bikes in the previous year. However, in the initial half of the following year, that figure jumped to two hundred thirty-three injuries plus four fatalities.
