We have all read about how people are losing their lives in their quest for the ultimate selfie. Now we have something more shocking to worry about – Snapchat’s speed filter! For those who have not used Snapchat, it’s a feature in it, that uses sensors in a smartphone to record the speed at which a user is traveling when he or she sends a message. Snapchat users use the speed filter to snap images at high speed and earn brownie points among friends to soothe their egos. The Snapchat speed filter eggs users to send snaps from fast-moving cars and that can be suicidal as well as cause harm to others. This was proved in a suit filed by Uber driver, Wentworth Maynard, who was left with brain damage due to this speed filter. Christal McGee, an 18-year-old girl from Atlanta struck Maynard’s car at over 100 mph while using Snapchat’s speed filter. While driving her parent’s Mercedes down the highway in Atlanta, Georgia last September, McGee decided to test the limits of the speed filter. With three passengers in the car, McGee used Snapchat to take selfies while traveling at speeds as fast as 113 mph, according to the speed filter in the Snapchat app. The recklessness of taking and sending the snaps diverted her attention and she did not see Maynard coming from the opposite side. McGee struck the Maynard’s car while traveling at 107 mph damaging it completely and almost causing fatalities. According to NY Daily News, the lawsuit seeks unspecified damages from McGee and Snapchat, which is named in the lawsuit because the company’s speed filter “motivated” McGee’s reckless driving. Maynard, an Uber driver, was left with brain damage that his lawyers say will prevent him from doing his job. The filter “facilitated McGee’s excessive speeding” and “distracted” her in the moments before the crash, the suit says. Snapchat on its part has put up a warning on its speed filter, telling users: “Please, DO NOT Snap and drive.” However, most young people disregard the warning completely causing incidents like above.
