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

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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.

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“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.”

Andy Boxall
Andy has written about mobile technology for almost a decade. From 2G to 5G and smartphone to smartwatch, Andy knows tech.
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