Wentworth Maynard, a Georgia man, is suing a teenager who hit him in a head-on collisions, along with the mobile app that might have caused it.
The lawsuit claims that Christal McGee, 18, was using Snapchat’s speed filter — which adds a user’s speed to a photo and Snapchat awards them with a “trophy” for posting their speed — at the time of the accident.
We’ve come a long way since 1976 when Kodak owned 90% of all market shares for photographic film sales. Now, with all these new technological innovations, teen drivers are paying less attention out on the roads than ever before.
“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,'” the victim’s lawyers said.
According to USA Today, McGee was going 107 mph at the time of the crash. The speed limit was 55.
“While she was distracted and on her phone, McGee did not notice that a gray Mitsubishi, driven by Maynard Wentworth, had pulled out onto the road,” the lawsuit states.
The Snapchat photos didn’t even end after the high-speed head-on collision. Maynard’s lawyers claim that McGee took a selfie with blood all over her face while she lay on a stretcher. The caption for that photo read, “lucky to be alive.”
CNN Money reports that the lawsuit alleges that Snapchat had known of previous accidents caused by the app and the company chose not to remove the speed filter.
“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,” T. Shane Peagler, attorney said.
A spokesperson for Snapchat said that it does discourage people from using its speed filter while driving with an in-app warning message that reads, “Please, DO NOT Snap and drive.”
“The issue really is about distracted teenage drivers,” Maynard’s attorney said to NBC. “It’s about Snapchat encouraging teenagers to drive at fast speed for social status.”
