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NSW authorities have levied a penalty against an American social media personality and handed out two traffic infringement notices for reported negligent driving after a swarm of electric bicycle users converged on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the busy commute on a weekday.

The Event: An Illegal Gathering

A group of around 40 individuals operating electric bikes and motorbikes proceeded along the bridge’s main deck, where cycling is prohibited. The assembly then turned around and rode through the downtown area and a nearby district.

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

Police said they did not immediately pursue the group out of safety concerns but rather found the assembly at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the city gardens, where they dispersed.

Penalties Issued for Content Creator

On Saturday, authorities announced they had served the US social media influencer who goes by the influencer, 26, with two traffic infringement notices for negligent driving (not involving death or prior injury), carrying a fine of $562 and penalty points each, in relation to the bridge ride-out. They added that inquiries were continuing.

The influencer reportedly has more than 3.4m subscribers on YouTube and over 1.2m on Instagram.

Influencer's Comments

The content creator spoke with a major newspaper recently following the event gained traction on news sites and social media, saying he was sorry for giving "bike life" a negative image.

"I’ll probably take responsibility. That was among the safest gatherings I’ve ever seen," he said. "I’m coming here as a guest, so I’m going to come here respecting the laws and norms of Sydney. So when I decided to do a public meeting it was not meant to include a ride-out, it was just to greet people near the bridge."

"I’m unfamiliar with the city, I am to blame we found ourselves on the bridge and I had a decision to make: either the group completes the entirety of the bridge and comes back, an illegal act. Or we reverse, essentially, before entering the bridge. I chose at the time to go back."

National Debate on Electric Bike Rules

The spate of e-bikes 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 "total menace on the road."

"Young people have engaged in stupid things on bikes ever since the early bicycle [but] the injuries that are presenting at our ERs are absolutely devastating," the minister stated. "We’ve got to make sure we prevent these things coming into the country [and] officers are granted the powers to crack down, to confiscate them, to crush them, to dispose of them."

The state recorded 226 injuries associated with electric bikes in the previous year. But, in the first seven months of the following year, that number surged to 233 injuries plus four deaths.