Snapchat
Since 2013, Snapchat has defended the feature, in spite of criticisms from safety enforcers who have insinuated that it endorses reckless driving. The company has also had to endure lawsuits from families of those who have been hurt or killed in car accidents where drivers were moving at very high speeds, so as to prove themselves on this particular app feature.
Critics of the speed filter welcomed the news, but at the same time, questioned as to why it took so long. "Lives will be saved. Crashes will be prevented, but the lawyer in me says, 'My God, why did it take so long?' " said Joel Feldman, the co-founder of the nonprofit End Distracted Driving, one of the groups that urged Snapchat to remove the speed filter.
While it is unclear as to what precisely led to the eradication of the feature, over the past several weeks, NPR asked Snapchat several questions regarding the reason that it had kept the speed filter for such a long period of time.
A company spokeswoman said to NPR, "Nothing is more important than the safety of our Snapchat community." About a month later, the Snapchat spokeswoman reiterated that the speed filter would be eradicated. The feature "is barely used by Snapchatters," she said this past Thursday. "And in light of that, we are removing it altogether."
She stated that Snapchat began getting rid of the feature last week, but that it may be a few weeks before the feature entirely diminishes from the app for all 500 million users.
Since Snapchat's decision to abolish the speed filter feature, they will surely attract a level of trustworthiness from users that they had not previously attained. Although this feature may have been "fun" in the moment for users, it has not proven to be safe or effective in the long run, therefore proving that it needs to be done away with completely.
