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NSW police have issued a fine against an American social media personality and served two driving violation citations for reported negligent driving after a swarm of e-bike riders converged on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the busy commute on Tuesday.

The Incident: A Prohibited Ride

A gathering of approximately 40 people riding e-bikes and motorcycles travelled along the bridge’s main deck, where cycling is prohibited. The riders then turned around and traveled through the city’s CBD and Haymarket.

"This had a risk of serious injury or fatalities," stated a senior police official David Driver on Wednesday.

Law enforcement said they did not chase right away the riders out of concerns for public safety but instead located the group at a scenic Sydney lookout near the Botanic Gardens, at which point they broke up.

Penalties Issued for Influencer

Later in the week, authorities stated they had served the US social media influencer who goes by the influencer, 26, with two traffic infringement notices for careless operation (not involving death or prior injury), carrying a penalty of over five hundred dollars and three demerit points per notice, connected to the bridge ride-out. They added that inquiries were continuing.

The influencer reportedly has more than 3.4m followers on one platform and more than 1.2 million on Instagram.

Influencer's Comments

The online figure spoke with a local publication recently following the event gained traction on digital platforms, stating 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 told the publication. "I’m coming here as a guest, so I’m going to come here respecting 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 say hi under the bridge."

"I did not know the area well, 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 turns around, an illegal act. Or we reverse, essentially, before we’re on the bridge. I chose at the time to turn around."

Broader Context on Electric Bike Rules

The increase of electric bicycles on streets across the country has prompted increasing demands 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 stupid things on bikes ever since the penny-farthing [but] the harm that are presenting at our hospital emergency departments are absolutely devastating," he said. "We’ve got to ensure we prevent these things coming into the country [and] officers are given the authority to take strong action, to confiscate them, to destroy them, to dispose of them."

NSW recorded over two hundred injuries associated with electric bikes in the previous year. However, in the first seven months of the following year, that number surged to 233 injuries plus four fatalities.