This is interesting:
Snapchat is social media’s newest darling because it allows users to post videos using previously unavailable filters and snaps automatically delete after they are opened by the recipient. This has created a sense of urgency in users to view snaps once opened because they are available for a limited time.
One of the newest filters in the Snapchat app is the speed filter, which allows users to post selfies while the app records the speed that was driven while it was being taken. This filter is not just being used by passengers in vehicles. This can be especially dangerous for less experienced drivers using the app.
A Georgia man, Wentworth Maynard, was seriously injured, in September 2015, after being hit by a driver using Snapchat’s speed filter. The driver, Christal McGee, drove in excess of 100 miles per hour so that her speed would be recorded as such when taking the selfie.
At the time of the accident, she had two other passengers in the car, one of whom was seven months pregnant. Following the accident, she posted a snap of her injured face with the message “lucky to be alive.”
An attorney that is connected with Maynard’s attorney says in the county where the accident occurred, people primarily only have the minimum insurance coverage, so it is unlikely that the maximum amount of coverage that McGee had will cover Maynard’s medical expenses. In that situation, personal injury lawyers have to consider who or what else may be a factor in causing the accident.
Raleigh car accident lawyer Ben Whitley commented, “Far too often we see cases of distracted driving in our office, I think this trend is only going to continue given the fact that most folks now have a smart phone.”
Maynard’s attorneys believe that Snapchat had some responsibility in causing the accident that left him with permanent brain damage. While Snapchat has denounced using its service while driving, it created a filter for the sole purpose of calculating the speed of a moving vehicle while a selfie is being taken.
Consequently, it is not unreasonable to expect that users would take selfies while driving because of the filter or began attempting to reach higher rates of speed when posting selfies using that filter.
If the court agrees, this would change the future of social media apps and the personal technology industry because it would signal that businesses may be held liable when creating tools that are reasonably likely to endanger public safety, despite adding a use warning.
