Couple suing teen, Snapchat for causing 107-mph Atlanta crash while using 'speed' filter

After a violent crash left him with traumatic brain injuries, a Georgia man and his wife are blaming Snapchat's "speed" filter, according to a new lawsuit.

The plaintiff, Wentworth Maynard, was merging onto a four-lane highway outside of Atlanta when, his lawyers say, his car was struck "so violently it shot across the left lane into the left embankment."

The lawsuit, which you can read here, claims the alleged driver of the speeding car, 18-year-old Christal McGee, was was on her phone trying to use the Snapchat speed filter at the time of the accident. The speed filter, which is a thing that actually exists, puts a large "[X] MPH" overlay on pictures, allowing Snapchat users not only to take selfies while driving, but share with their friends in real-time how fast they're traveling.

Shockingly, Snapchat users do not use the speed filter solely for the purpose of showing how well they follow local traffic laws (especially those that restrict cell phone use). Maynard's lawyers say, "McGee wanted to post an image of herself going fast. She argued that she was, 'Just trying to get the car to 100 miles per hour to post it on Snapchat,'" while a passenger in McGee's car said she had hit 113 mph on the Snapchat filter. When the cars collided, the complaint alleges that McGee's car was going 107 mph in a 55-mph zone. 

Maynard and his wife are now suing both the teen driver and Snapchat to pay for extensive medical bills after Maynard spent five weeks in intensive care for severe traumatic brain injury treatments. He now uses a walker or wheelchair to get around and, an Uber driver at the time of last year's crash, cannot work. 

The reason Maynard is suing the social media platform, in addition to McGee, is that they say the Snapchat filter "facilitated McGee’s excessive speeding." The app gives users trophies for sending pictures with filters, essentially incentivizing high-speed driving. 

While some may argue that Snapchat shouldn't be at fault for a teenager's lack of self-control, I would prefer that we not give teen drivers more ideas on how to drive irresponsibly. Maybe if there were separate highways for people who plan to engage in high-risk behavior, but while we're still forced to be on the road with them, companies shouldn't be profitting off of brainstorming bad behavior for the masses. There are so many dumb ideas they could come up with for people to do while stationary, so if not having a speed filter is cutting into their profit margins, perhaps they need better creative talent.

Everyone knows someone who doesn't seem to have a gauge for when it might be inappropriate to preserve the moment with a picture (see: my mother, every time I am eating), and selfies are such an ingrained part of teen culture in particular that it's easy to see how having an app that awards trophies for high-speed driving can be (easily) misconstrued as approval for speeding. Even in the immediate aftermath of the violent crash that left Maynard disabled, you will not be surprised to learn that McGee took a selfie in the ambulance, and, yes, posted it to Snapchat.

lucky to be alive snapchat

 

Comments

What an incredibibly stupid young lady. I hope she has her license taken away for a very long time, and has to pay the unfortunate victim of her stupidity! Snapchat's decision to make this an option was irresponsible. What moron invented this????

The app, nor the inventor, has fault here - it's like suing a gun maker for a murder, the tool is not the problem but the person is - in fact, there is an overlay on the app that states "do not drive and use this app . . ." that is on the screen while you're using it.  Stupid girl should be sued, don't agree with suing Snapchat

I agree it's not their fault. But what is the purpose of the app then? Is the passenger supposed to use it?

And of course 18-year-old Christal McGee probably thinks she has done nothing wrong.

Oh, and she took a selfie in the Ambulence?? How selfish is this girl???

I hope there is serious consequence for this young woman. She is either mentally ill or a heartless idiot. Either way she doesn't belong on the roadways.

this girl look good but she dumb she shouldnt have been going that fast while on her phone and on a 4 lane highway! she should get fined jail time lisence revolked and anything else that could happen to her. she does not deserve those rights that she took away from that man.

Both McGee and the social media platform have denied the allegations. Lawyers from all sides of the lawsuit filed a motion late last month to put the suit on hold for 30 days after Snapchat examined McGee’s account, CNN Money reported.

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