Skip to main content

Man caught driving 112 mph blames it on Snapchat’s new speed filter

snapchat seven billion video views women selfies user customers consumers marketing
Image used with permission by copyright holder
A man has been arrested after driving at almost twice the speed limit on a highway in Georgia. Nothing that unusual, except the driver didn’t give any of the usual, tired excuses cops may often hear in these situations. No, the driver admitted he was speeding because he wanted to capture it on Snapchat.

Clocked at 112 miles per hour, Malon Neal told astounded officers he was doing it for Snapchat after he was pulled over. Footage recorded at the time shows Neal’s honesty when the cops confront him over the speeding. Although he doesn’t go into much detail, there’s an excellent chance he was using the Snapchat filter which can measure current speed, and placed it over the top of a picture.

“I would love to see where you are headed in such a hurry,” the officer asked. Neal replied, “Um, I was trying to do it for Snapchat, not going to lie to you.” Obviously not expecting such an answer, the officer sounds taken aback, asking, “Trying to what?” The response from Neal is the same: “Do it for Snapchat,” he said.

Neal was caught in his 2015 Dodge Charger by a stationary radar trap as the officer watched the car accelerate far faster than the traffic around it. The radar measured a speed of 112 mph, nearly twice the 65 mph speed limit of the road, but Neal didn’t state whether his Snap said he was going faster than this, but apparently did admit he knew it was more than 100 mph in his police report. He was charged with reckless driving, and for using a mobile device while driving.

It’s not the first time Snapchat’s speed filter has encouraged someone to drive too fast, and at least one time has ended in a horrific accident. In one high profile incident, Wentworth — who suffered brain damage from the accident — and Karen Maynard were victims in a crash caused by a driver who was using Snapchat, and the Maynards sued both the driver and Snapchat. They alleged that Christal McGee was trying to reach 100 mph on the Snapchat speed filter; however, a judge ruled Snapchat had immunity under the Communications Decency Act, and Snapchat’s attorney was quoted as saying the win “diverted blame,” and encouraged “responsible use of these technologies by the driver.”

Editors' Recommendations

Andy Boxall
Senior Mobile Writer
Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…
Bluesky barrels toward 1 million new sign-ups in a day
Bluesky social media app logo.

Social media app Bluesky has picked nearly a million new users just a day after exiting its invitation-only beta and opening to everyone.

In a post on its main rival -- X (formerly Twitter) -- Bluesky shared a chart showing a sudden boost in usage on the app, which can now be downloaded for free for iPhone and Android devices.

Read more
How to make a GIF from a YouTube video
woman sitting and using laptop

Sometimes, whether you're chatting with friends or posting on social media, words just aren't enough -- you need a GIF to fully convey your feelings. If there's a moment from a YouTube video that you want to snip into a GIF, the good news is that you don't need complex software to so it. There are now a bunch of ways to make a GIF from a YouTube video right in your browser.

If you want to use desktop software like Photoshop to make a GIF, then you'll need to download the YouTube video first before you can start making a GIF. However, if you don't want to go through that bother then there are several ways you can make a GIF right in your browser, without the need to download anything. That's ideal if you're working with a low-specced laptop or on a phone, as all the processing to make the GIF is done in the cloud rather than on your machine. With these options you can make quick and fun GIFs from YouTube videos in just a few minutes.
Use GIFs.com for great customization
Step 1: Find the YouTube video that you want to turn into a GIF (perhaps a NASA archive?) and copy its URL.

Read more
I paid Meta to ‘verify’ me — here’s what actually happened
An Instagram profile on an iPhone.

In the fall of 2023 I decided to do a little experiment in the height of the “blue check” hysteria. Twitter had shifted from verifying accounts based (more or less) on merit or importance and instead would let users pay for a blue checkmark. That obviously went (and still goes) badly. Meanwhile, Meta opened its own verification service earlier in the year, called Meta Verified.

Mostly aimed at “creators,” Meta Verified costs $15 a month and helps you “establish your account authenticity and help[s] your community know it’s the real us with a verified badge." It also gives you “proactive account protection” to help fight impersonation by (in part) requiring you to use two-factor authentication. You’ll also get direct account support “from a real person,” and exclusive features like stickers and stars.

Read more