Snapchat's being sued for 'motivating' high speed crash

A US driver has blamed a Snapchat filter for "motivating" the dangerous driving that left him with permanent brain damage.

Former US Uber driver Wentworth Maynard has sued the messaging app claiming its speed filter was "the critical cause" of a crash.

The speed filter encourages users to log the speed of their cars, the New York Daily News reports.

Maynard was merging onto a Georgia highway with his wife last September when they were hit by a second car driven by Christal McGee, the court documents state.

McGee, 18, was taking selfies with friends while driving at more than 160km/h when she crashed into Mr Maynard's car.

The apps filter "facilitated McGee's excessive speeding" and "distracted" her from concentrating on the road before the crash, the suit said.

McGee later posted a photo on Snapchat showing her strapped in an ambulance gurney with the caption "Lucky to be alive".

The crash has left Mr Maynard unable to work from the brain damage he received.

Both Mr Maynard and McGee are names as defendants on the lawsuit against Snapchat.

"We’ll see to it that Christal McGee is held responsible, but we also want to see Snapchat held responsible," Maynard’s lawyers T Shane Peagler said.

"This is a product liability case because Snapchat put something very dangerous in the marketplace without any warnings or safeguards, and basically said, whatever happens, happens."