An ongoing lawsuit in Atlanta, Ga. claims that a man has been left with permanent brain damage after his car was struck by another vehicle traveling over 100 mph. The other driver was allegedly using the Snapchat app on her smartphone at the time of the crash.

Back in September 2015, Wentworth Maynard was driving his Mitsubishi Outlander on a highway near Atlanta when his car was struck by a Mercedes-Benz C230 driven by Christal McGee. She was reportedly traveling approximately 107 mph when she collided with Maynard. The lawsuit alleges McGee was distracted by Snapchat, a smartphone app that allows users to send and receive photos and short videos. McGee reportedly was using the app’s speed filter, which uses GPS data to track how fast the user is traveling and displays the rate of speed on the photo or video.

Maynard’s lawyers are suing both McGee and Snapchat for negligence. The suit alleges Snapchat was aware that the speed filter could distract and put users in danger. The lawsuit points to a similar incident in Brazil where a female driver using Snapchat’s speed filter crashed and suffered serious injuries. According to the suit, the app further encourages the speed filter by awarding “trophies” to users who frequently activate the feature.

As a result of the crash, McGee spent five weeks in the hospital and is now permanently brain damaged. He requires a wheelchair or walker to move around and depends on his wife for ongoing care.

McGee, along with her three passengers, suffered minor injuries and have recovered from the crash. Among the evidence obtained by Maynard’s lawyers is a selfie “snap” McGee took in the ambulance on the way to the hospital from the crash site. The caption read, “Lucky to be alive.”

Source: CBS News, Law Offices of Michael L. Neff

Lead image courtesy of State Court of Spalding County, Georgia

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Source: Motor Trend