Snapchat is permanently removing its “speed filter,” which allows users to document how quickly they’re moving while using the app.
Snap Inc.’s decision comes after several tragic car crashes that were connected to the feature, The Hill reports. After introducing the filter in 2013, the company continued to stand by it even as many criticized the feature for leading to reckless driving.
“Nothing is more important than the safety of our Snapchat community,” a company spokeswoman said. “Today the sticker is barely used by Snapchatters, and in light of that, we are removing it altogether.” It may take a couple of weeks for the feature to disappear from all of Snapchat’s 500 million active accounts.
Snap was sued by the families of two teen victims who died in a fatal car accident in Wisconsin, with a judge ruling in May that the company has to face the lawsuit. The 2017 crash led to the deaths of three people, with the filter showing the car going at 123 miles per hour and the car registering at 113 miles per hour when it crashed. Two more accidents happened the previous year: one in Georgia that left a driver with permanent brain damage and the other in Philadelphia, which left three dead.
The spokeswoman added that users couldn’t activate the filter at particular driving speeds, with the max ultimately capped at 35 miles per hour when driving.
