It happened in a flash. One second, Jack Doherty is cruising down a rain-slicked Miami highway, glancing at his phone, and the next, his $200,000 custom McLaren 570S is a crumpled mess of carbon fiber and shattered glass against a metal guardrail. If you spend any time on the internet, you probably saw the clips. They were everywhere.
But the crash itself wasn't even the part that made people the angriest.
The Moment the YouTube Star Crashes McLaren
On the morning of October 5, 2024, Doherty was doing what he always does: chasing the "clout." He was live on Kick, the streaming platform known for its "wild west" approach to content, with over 185,000 people watching his every move. It was pouring. Anyone who has driven in Florida knows that those tropical downpours turn the highways into skating rinks.
In the footage, you can clearly see the 20-year-old influencer holding his phone, eyes darting away from the road to read his chat. Then, the car hydroplanes. There’s a high-pitched rev of the engine—likely a panic reaction or the wheels losing grip—and a scream.
"No! No! No!"
The car spun across several lanes and slammed into the barrier.
Why the reaction was worse than the wreck
Usually, when someone survives a high-speed collision, the first thing they do is check if everyone is okay. Doherty took a different route.
While bystanders rushed to the mangled wreck to pull him out, Jack stayed in "content creator" mode. He didn't drop the camera. In fact, he handed his phone to a bystander who was trying to help him out of the window and told them to keep filming.
"Break the f***ing window!" he yelled, while making sure the lens was pointed at his face.
The real kicker? His cameraman and friend, Michael, was sitting in the passenger seat, visibly dazed and bleeding from a significant head wound. While Michael clutched his arm and dripped blood onto the custom interior, Jack was lamenting the loss of his "f***ing car."
It was a surreal look into the modern influencer psyche. The vehicle, a blue paint-splattered McLaren that Jack had boasted about for months, was totaled. But the stream was still live.
The Fallout: Bans, Citations, and Internet Fury
The internet is rarely a forgiving place, but the backlash here was on another level. Heavy hitters in the streaming world didn't hold back.
- Corinna Kopf called him out for making his bleeding friend film the aftermath.
- Dakotaz (Brett Hoffman) noted that this was a symptom of a "world where fame is chased harder than compassion."
- The Florida Highway Patrol didn't find it funny either, eventually citing him for using a wireless communication device while driving.
Kick pulls the plug
Kick has a reputation for being lenient, but even they have their limits. Their community guidelines explicitly state that creators must prioritize safety. Within hours of the crash, Doherty’s channel was scrubbed from the platform.
A spokesperson for Kick told media outlets like NBC News that the platform "does not condone illegal activity." For a guy whose entire income depends on being live, this was a massive blow. He eventually got unbanned months later in January 2025, only to get booted again nine days later after a street brawl.
The Reality of Supercars and Rain
Honestly, crashing a McLaren 570S in the rain while texting is almost a mathematical certainty. These aren't your average Corollas.
- Rear-Wheel Drive Power: The 570S sends over 560 horsepower to the rear wheels. On wet pavement, even a slight twitch of the foot while the front wheels are straight can send the back end swinging.
- Wide Tires: High-performance tires are great for dry grip, but their wide surface area makes them prone to hydroplaning (floating on top of the water) at relatively low speeds.
- Distraction: At highway speeds, you’re covering about 88 feet per second. Looking down at a phone for three seconds means you've traveled the length of a football field blind.
Doherty had previously crashed a golf cart and an off-road vehicle on camera. It seems the "learning lesson" he claimed to have had on X (formerly Twitter) after the McLaren incident was a long time coming.
What we can learn from the Jack Doherty incident
This wasn't just a car accident; it was a case study in the dangers of distracted driving and the "always-on" nature of viral fame.
Prioritize human life over the lens. If you or someone you know is a budding creator, remember that no "viral clip" is worth a permanent injury. If an accident happens, the camera must go off immediately.
Understand the machine. Supercars require 100% of your attention 100% of the time. When the weather turns, those cars become incredibly difficult to manage.
Liability is real. Beyond the ticket from the highway patrol, passengers in these situations often have strong grounds for personal injury lawsuits. When you're the driver, you are legally responsible for the lives of every person in that cabin.
If you're ever in a situation where a driver is distracted or acting recklessly for social media, speak up or get out of the car. It might feel "lame" in the moment, but it’s better than ending up in a viral clip with a bandage on your head while your friend cries about their insurance premium.
To stay safer on the road, consider using "Do Not Disturb While Driving" features on your smartphone to automatically silence notifications until you've reached your destination.
