Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Snapchat Sued For Facilitating 107 MPH Car Crash (patch.com)

Posted by msmash on from the technology-facilitating-damage dept.

An anonymous reader writes: A Georgia couple is suing Snapchat, a popular instant messaging and photo sharing app, after a car accident last year seriously injured the husband, leaving him permanently brain damaged. According to media reports, Wentworth Maynard, the victim, was driving in a 55-mile-per-hour zone when 18-year-old Christal McGee crashed into him traveling at 107 miles per hour. McGee, according to lawsuits, was attempting to use Snapchat's "speed filter" -- a feature that overlays the speed one is traveling on a picture. "Snapchat's speed filter facilitated McGee's excessive speeding," reads the lawsuit. "McGee was motivated to drive at an excessive speed in order to obtain recognition through Snapchat by the means of a Snapchat 'trophy.'"

4 of 496 comments (clear)

  1. Frivolous lawsuit by cyberzephyr · · Score: 0, Troll

    I hate frivolous lawsuits.

    --
    I'm here for the experience, not the Hyperbole.
    1. Re:Frivolous lawsuit by mysidia · · Score: 0, Troll

      Is it frivolous, however? By assigning a "Trophy" for traveling a certain speed, they are creating an addicting experience, and could be argued to be using gamification to encourage/promote risky behavior.

    2. Re: Frivolous lawsuit by Dread_ed · · Score: 1, Troll

      They got their trophy. It's a Darwin Award.

      --
      When the only tool you have is a claw hammer every problem starts to look like the back of someone's skull.
  2. not so fast... by supernova87a · · Score: 0, Troll

    I know there can be a kneejerk libertarian argument for personal responsibility, but certainly a rational observer could reasonably entertain the idea of "contributory negligence" against Snapchat. If Snapchat enables very easily some behavior that could be considered negligent or law-breaking, some party could sue them for contributing to a reasonably-anticipated outcome of that contribution.

    If Snapchat started having a feature called "Number of red lights run!" -- would you defend them from liability?