Filed under “really dumb stuff to do,” a teenage driver in George is facing criminal charges for causing a collision while using the Snapchat “speed filter.”
News outlets report a Clayton County judge signed arrest warrants Wednesday for 19-year-old Christal McGee, charging her with felony serious injury by vehicle, among other charges, following the conclusion of a police investigation.
Clayton County Solicitor Tasha Mosley says McGee was speeding on a rainy road in September, when she crashed into driver Wentworth Maynard, who spent weeks in a coma and suffered brain damage.
Maynard and his wife filed a lawsuit in April against McGee and Snapchat, saying the app’s filter tempted McGee to speed.
The suit filed by attorney Michael Lawson Neff alleges, McGee wanted to post an image of herself going fast, so she “pushed the speed of her Mercedes to above 80 miles per hour. McGee then pushed the speed of her Mercedes to above 90 miles per hour. And McGee continued to push the speed of her Mercedes to above 100 miles per hour.”
Two other people, including a pregnant woman was in the car with McGee during the crash.
“The issue really is about distracted teenage drivers. It’s about Snapchat encouraging teenagers to drive at fast speed for social status,” Neff told NBC News
