Lawsuits have been filed by angry parents who blame the Snapchat “Speed Filter” for causing deadly car accidents and reckless driving.
What You Can Do & How We Can Help
The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting Snapchat induced injury cases in all 50 states. If your child or loved one was in a car accident while using Snapchat Speed Filter, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Social Media Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.
What is the Problem?
Every year, thousands of teenagers and innocent bystanders are killed or seriously injured due to distracted driving. Social media has only added to the problem of bad drivers doing dumb things on the road.
Deadly Snapchat Car Accidents Linked to Speed Filter
Snapchat is one particularly egregious example — specifically the “Speed Filter,” an app that lets users post their current speed on photos and videos, and rewards users with trophies for high speeds.
Snapchat introduced the Speed Filter in 2013 and did not remove it until June 2021. Judging by the number of car accidents involving the Speed Filter, this deadly Snapchat app clearly seemed to encourage young drivers to drive recklessly at high speeds.
Snapchat Claims Immunity Under Section 230
But until now, car accident lawsuits against social media companies have gone nowhere. These multi-billion dollar companies simply claim immunity under Section 230 Communications Decency Act, which lets tech companies off the hook for what users post on their sites.
Lawyers for Snapchat still claim they are immune from car accident lawsuits caused by distracted drivers on their phones, but in recent years, the courts have been slowly chipping away at their defenses.
9th Circuit Judges Let Car Accident Lawsuits Move Forward
Several car accident lawsuits against Snapchat have been allowed to proceed after federal judges with the Ninth Circuit determined that the “Speed Filter” was a feature of the app and not user-posted content.
The decision involved a deadly car accident in Wisconsin, where 3 teenage boys died when they hit a tree going 113 mph, just minutes after posting their speed on Snapchat.
According U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald with the Ninth Circuit, the problem is the inherent design of the app, which rewards users with “trophies, streaks, and social recognition.” He wrote:
“There is realistically no purpose for the Speed Filter other than to encourage users to travel at high speeds and record themselves doing so. It is common sense that adding a speed-sharing feature to a social media application used predominantly by minors and young adults would encourage such users to record themselves while driving at high speeds.”
Examples of Deadly Car Accidents Linked to Snapchat Speed Filter
It is not hard to find examples of young drivers who were using Snapchat when they died in car accidents, or killed other innocent people on the road. Here a just a few:
- An Uber driver who sued Snapchat in 2016 — He suffered brain damage after he was hit by a girl using Snapchat Speed Filter at over 100 mph
- Teenage girl in Georgia who killed her friend in a car accident in 2018 — The driver of a Mini Cooper was going 106 mph when she crashed into a tree on “senior skip day”
- Three women died in a fiery car accident after crashing a Camaro — They posted a Snapchat showing their speed (73 mph) just before hitting a parked tractor-trailer. “A witness on the scene said he could hear people screaming from inside the car, but he couldn’t get to the vehicle due to the flames.”
- Video of a Snapchat Speed Filter video at 115 mph just before a crash that killed 5 people — The driver of a Volkswagen Golf killed himself and four innocent people in 2016.
Do I have a Snapchat Car Accident Lawsuit?
The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting Snapchat induced injury cases in all 50 states. If your child or loved one was in a car accident while using Snapchat Speed Filter, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Social Media Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.
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