"Just stupid and dangerous" - Marques Brownlee, aka MKBHD, addresses speeding in school zone controversy

Prominent tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee, also known as "MKBHD," has addressed a major controversy involving him this year. For context, in November 2024, the content creator made headlines when a video of him speeding a Lamborghini through a school zone went viral on social media.

Several netizens called out Marques Brownlee over his actions, with X user @PlaygamerThree writing:

"MKBHD going 100 mph in a 35 zone w/ signs warning children are in the area and you're approaching a school zone... You even tried to hide it by blurring the speed in the video. Do better."

Brownlee eventually responded to the controversy via a tweet, stating that test-driving a car while going "way too fast" was "absolutely inexcusable and dangerous."

On December 29, 2024, Brownlee uploaded a video titled WTF Happened in 2024?! At the 10-minute mark, the 31-year-old addressed the controversy, admitting that he was recklessly driving a sports car in a speed limit zone.

Describing his actions as "stupid and dangerous," the tech YouTuber stated:

"I wanted to use this opportunity to address the bigger issue from that whole experience, which was the driving clip, even though it's no longer in that video. So, there was a clip in that video, since removed, of POV driving a Lamborghini and accelerating over 90 miles per hour in a 35-mile an hour zone. It's just stupid and dangerous."

Marques Brownlee further explained why he apologized for the controversy, claiming that reckless driving could set a precedent for what is considered acceptable behavior. He also mentioned that apologizing and deleting the video was the correct thing to do, although avoiding such a mistake in the first place would have been better.

"Not just for the actual act, which was stupid and dangerous, but also for the potential precedent that it could set. Because we said, I know people watch these videos, and for someone to watch that and think that it's okay. So, I apologized, I removed it, which I still think is the correct thing to do. Obviously, never doing it in the first place would've been way smarter."

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Marques Brownlee gives context for the overspeeding in school zone controversy

At the 12-minute mark of the video mentioned above, Marques Brownlee provided context for the events that led to the overspeeding controversy. While claiming that a nameless YouTuber invited him to test drive a car, Brownlee insisted that he was guided through a pre-designated route and hence wasn't very familiar with the area.

"Earlier in November, another YouTuber, who will remain nameless, invited me out to test a car and I said, 'Okay, that sounds fun.' We went out, and the way these work is that the salesperson sort of takes you out on a pre-designated test drive route. It was outside New Jersey, I didn't know the space very well, so I just followed their lead. They sort of show you where to go and we went out, and then came back."

Timestamp: 10:49

The Maplewood, New Jersey native further mentioned that the incident wasn't planned, and all he wanted was to test an Action Cam by shooting a small clip of him driving. However, Marques Brownlee insisted that the context wasn't important and took responsibility for his actions, saying:

"So, I had the Action Cam with me as I had for the past couple of weeks, as I shot clips here and there around just on how it could be used to shoot anything anywhere. So, on the way back, I was like, 'Oh, okay, I'll shoot a clip of a few seconds of driving because this could be used to shoot driving shots.' None of this context really matters that much and there's a reason for speed limits, and I own that responsibility."

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Marques Brownlee also made headlines on December 16, 2024, when bodycam footage of the YouTuber being pulled over went viral.