Melbourne Victory FC Demonstrate Dangers of ‘Driving Blind’ in World-First Experiment

Recently, Victoria‘s Transport Accident Commission (TAC) issued a road safety campaign with the tagline ‘If you‘re on your phone, you‘re driving blind.’ Partnering with Melbourne Victory FC, sports and entertainment agency Gemba set out to conduct a world–first experiment to demonstrate the consequences of driving blind.

The experiment, titled The Tunnel Vision Experiment, saw two players from the football club, Chris Ikonomidis and George Timotheou, attempt to pass a ball through a custom–built tunnel.

The catch?

The ball and entire interior of the tunnel were painted in Black 3.0, which absorbs 99% of light, making it virtually invisible to the eye. Gemba‘s Creative Director John Weir said, “The idea behind our experiment arose out of the insight that lots of us develop this false confidence in our driving ability.

We assume if we see a ‘clear road’ ahead, then it‘s okay to take a quick look at our phone. Despite being two of the club‘s top players, even they struggled to accurately assess the trajectory of the oncoming ball when it disappeared for a few milliseconds.” Samantha Cockfield, TACs Head of Road Safety commented, “The experiment was very interesting. It brought to life a very serious road safety message. The reality is, if we’re behind the wheel and we glance at our phone, then we’re driving blind in what can be crucial life–or–death moments.”

Gemba‘s experiment posed the vital question – if two elite footballers can struggle with this task, how can we be so sure of our own abilities when driving or glancing at our phone?

The footage from the experiment has been used in a series of film to be featured in–stadium at AAMI Park, as well as being spread through social and digital channels.