22-year-old Michael Brown was captured in a video twerking on top of a 2012 Jeep Wrangler in Port Aransas, Texas. The clip of the spring breaker gained popularity on Reddit with hundreds of commenters discussing the dangerous act.
According to the Austin American Statesman, Brown ended up in a car accident later that day on Highway 361 near Cinnamon Shore and Access Road 1A. The vehicle collided with a Tesla, leaving debris scattered across the road.
However, Brown was not on top of the Jeep at the time of the accident. He was riding in the passenger seat.
The incident occurred on March 14. After the crash, Brown was hospitalized with serious head injuries. He was pronounced dead six days later, on March 20, according to the Nueces County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The driver of the Jeep, 24-year-old Riley Rhoades, was arrested under suspicion of driving while intoxicated. He failed a breathalyzer test with a recording of 0.14 and 0.12. In Texas, the legal blood alcohol content limit is .08.
After the incident, the video of Brown twerking atop the car has been gaining even more attention. A comment on the News 4 San Antonio Facebook page said, “My cousin Michael was an amazing young man, whom was compassionate and loving and this one moment didn’t define his entire life, it just sadly ended it.”
Many other commenters are blaming the driver for drinking and getting behind the wheel. As another viewer said, “I hope young people learn from this. It should be played over and over so people can learn from it.”
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “Every day, about 34 people in the United States die in drunk-driving crashes — that's one person every 42 minutes. In 2023, 12,429 people died in alcohol-impaired driving traffic deaths. These deaths were all preventable.”
