Earlier this week we wrote about how the NHTSA is trying to bring awareness to the dangers of distracted driving by responding to social media users whoappear to be texting while driving with the hashtag #justdrive. Now, one social networking company is under fire for creating a filter that allegedlyencourages drivers not only to post and drive, but to speed while doing so.
The Snapchat speed filter allows users to record the speed in which they were traveling at the time they took a picture. According to a recent lawsuit,that filter is the cause of a 107-mph crash that left a man permanently disabled.
Georgia couple Wentworth and Karen Maynard have filed a lawsuit against an 18-year-old woman and Snapchat. The Maynards say that the Christal McGee, theyoung woman who caused the violent collision, was so distracted by trying to get a high speed for the Snapchat filter that she did not see the MaynardsMitsubishi merge onto the highway.
After the accident, McGee claimed that she was "just trying to get the car to 100 miles per hour to post it on Snapchat," as if that argument would mitigatethe damage caused. Passengers inside McGee's vehicle say they begged her to slow down, and noticed that the filter registered a top speed of 113 milesper hour, with a speed of 107 miles per hour immediately prior to the collision.
Although her social media use led to a serious accident, McGee continued to post to Snapchat immediately after the crash, even posting a selfie of herselfon an ambulance with the caption, "Lucky to be alive."
The accident left Wentworth Maynard seriously injured. He spent five weeks in intensive care because of atraumatic brain injury. He spent another six weeks in rehabilitation at the hospital, and now that he is home, he suffers chronic pain; relies on theuse of a wheelchair or walker; has difficulty in communication and cognition; suffers depression; and is unable to work.
According to the lawsuit, this is not the first time a serious accident has been caused by a distracted driver using the Snapchat speed filter, and thecompany is negligent in not pulling the filter from its app. The Maynards' attorney issued a statement,saying, "This is a product liability case because Snapchat put something very dangerous in the marketplace without any warnings or safeguards,and basically said, whatever happens, happens."
Citing pending litigation, Snapchat has not publicly responded to the lawsuit.
