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New South Wales authorities have issued a fine against an US-based online influencer and served two driving violation citations for alleged negligent driving following a large group of e-bike riders converged on the famous Sydney landmark during the busy commute on Tuesday.

The Event: An Illegal Gathering

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

"There was a risk of people to be injured and killed," stated NSW police assistant commissioner the officer on the following day.

Police said they did not immediately pursue the riders out of safety concerns but rather found the assembly at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near the city gardens, at which point they broke up.

Penalties Issued for Influencer

On Saturday, authorities stated they had served the US social media influencer known as the influencer, 26, with two traffic infringement notices for negligent driving (with no death or previous bodily harm), carrying a fine of over five hundred dollars and penalty points per notice, in relation to the bridge ride-out. Officials noted that the investigation is ongoing.

The influencer reportedly has over 3.4 million subscribers on one platform and over 1.2 million on the social media app.

Influencer's Comments

The online figure gave comments to a major newspaper this week after the incident gained traction on digital platforms, stating he was sorry for giving "bike life" a bad reputation.

"I accept the blame. It was one of the safest gatherings I’ve ever seen," he said. "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 ride-out, 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, essentially, before we’re on the bridge. And I made the decision at the time to go back."

National Debate on Electric Bike Rules

The spate of e-bikes on streets across the country has prompted increasing demands for stricter rules. The federal health minister, the minister, recently said that non-compliant electric bikes were a "complete hazard on the road."

"Young people have engaged in stupid things on bikes since the invention of the penny-farthing [but] the harm that are coming into our ERs are truly severe," he stated. "We’ve got to ensure we prevent these things entering the country [and] police are given the powers to crack down, to take them away, to crush 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 number surged to 233 injuries plus four deaths.