London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 31, 2025

Snapchat Removed Its Controversial Speed Filter That Was Linked To Fatal Car Crashes

Snapchat Removed Its Controversial Speed Filter That Was Linked To Fatal Car Crashes

Families of two young men who were killed in a 2017 crash alleged in a lawsuit that the app's feature encouraged dangerous speeding that led to the accident.

Snapchat has begun removing its "speed filter" feature after it was blamed for encouraging dangerous speeding by safety advocates and families of car crash victims.

It's not clear when Snap Inc. made the decision to remove the feature that records speed in real time, but NPR first reported the news on Thursday.

In a statement to BuzzFeed News, a Snap spokesperson confirmed the company was eliminating the feature, saying the sticker was hardly being used anymore by the app's 500 million monthly active users.

"Nothing is more important than the safety of our Snapchat community, and we had previously disabled the filter at driving speeds," the spokesperson said. "Today the sticker is barely used by Snapchatters, and in light of that, we are removing it altogether."

NPR reported that the company began removing the feature starting this week, but it will be a couple more weeks before it disappears entirely from the app.

Snapchat first introduced the controversial feature in 2013, but modified some of its aspects after the backlash and lawsuits. It changed it from a filter to a less prominent sticker and added a "don't snap and drive" warning while the feature was in use. It also limited the top driving speed at which a snap could be shared to 35 mph, according to NPR.


The feature's removal came a month after an appeals court ruled that the company can be sued over the speed filter's role in contributing to a crash that killed three young men in Wisconsin in 2017.

The parents of the two of the crash victims sued Snap in 2019, alleging that the app's speed filter encouraged their sons to drive at dangerous speeds and caused their deaths through its "negligent design."

Jason Davis, 17, was driving a car on a road in southern Wisconsin on May 28, 2017, accompanied by two passengers: Hunter Morby, 17, and Landen Brown, 20. At some point during the drive, Brown opened his Snapchat app to show the car's speed filter. One snap captured the car's speed at 123 mph, which was significantly above the speed limit.

"They were motivated to drive at excessive speeds in order to obtain recognition and to share their speed through Snapchat," the lawsuit claimed.

The car then ran off the road, crashed into a tree, and burst into flames, killing all three.

The lawsuit also cited other examples where Snap's speed filter was linked to fatal or near-fatal car crashes. In 2016, a man in Georgia suffered brain damage after a teen, who was allegedly using Snapchat's speed filter while driving, smashed into his car at 107 mph. In 2015, three young women in Pennsylvania died after they crashed into a parked tractor trailer while allegedly using Snapchat's speed filter, and in 2016, the feature was tied to the deaths of five people in a Florida crash.

Last year, a California judge dismissed the lawsuit, citing the Communications Decency Act, which immunizes websites and tech companies from legal liability for user-generated content. But last month, the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit reversed the decision, saying that Snap was not immune from the lawsuit's claims.

The Snap spokesperson said the company could not comment on specifics of the ongoing lawsuit but added that "this was a devastating situation."

Attorneys for the Morby and Brown families told BuzzFeed News they were "gratified" that Snap had "finally chosen to take down the speed filter."

"While this will no doubt serve the safety of the motoring public in the future, it does not remedy Snapchat’s choice to create and distribute the speed filter it in the past. We look forward to our day in court and pursuing justice for those who suffered needless losses," the attorneys said.

One of the attorneys, Naveen Ramachandrappa, told BuzzFeed News that the removal of the filter was unlikely to have any effect on the current legal proceedings before the US District Court in California.

A court hearing in the case is scheduled for Aug. 2, he said.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Former Judge Charged After Drunk Driving Crash Kills Comedian in Brazil
Jeff Bezos hasn’t paid a dollar in taxes for decades. He makes billions and pays $0 in taxes, LEGALLY
China Increases Use of Exit Bans Amid Rising U.S. Tensions
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Procter & Gamble to Raise U.S. Prices to Offset One‑Billion‑Dollar Tariff Cost
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
Botswana Seeks Controlling Stake in De Beers as Anglo American Prepares Exit
Trump Administration Proposes Repeal of Obama‑Era Endangerment Finding, Dismantling Regulatory Basis for CO₂ Emissions Limits
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
A family has been arrested in the UK for displaying the British flag
Mel Gibson refuses to work with Robert De Niro, saying, "Keep that woke clown away from me."
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
The British propaganda channel BBC News lies again.
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
×