Hollywood Stuntwoman Performs ‘The Most Dangerous Stunt in the World’

Too many people die on New Zealand roads every year due to distracted driving and the problem is only getting worse, with distracted driving accounting for 26 deaths and 277 serious injuries between 2013 and 2018 in Auckland alone.

Auckland Transport have teamed up with an iconic Hollywood stuntwoman, New Zealand’s very own Auckland-raised Zoë Bell, to spread the message that ‘no one is invincible’.

The campaign, created by Ogilvy and aptly named ‘The Most Dangerous Stunt in the World’, features Death-Proof actress Zoë, taking a selfie video, whilst driving a high performance Mustang car around her old neighbourhood in Auckland City.

During filming, the footage shows Zoë sipping her coffee, applying lipstick and checking her appearance in the mirror, as she discusses her varied stunt career with the camera, she effectively becomes more and more distracted from the road.

The big reveal comes at the end, when Zoë states ‘But I’ll tell you one thing that I definitely won’t do… and that’s drive distracted”, as she turns the camera to reveal that she is actually sitting in a stationary car, being towed on the back of a truck.

"You're taking other people's lives in your hands, that's literally what you're doing when you send a text saying you're running five mins late," said Zoë to TV3 Newshub reporter, Kate Rodger, "It might be longer than five mins if you don't get it right."

Auckland Transport community transport manager, Claire Dixon said: “It only takes a second of diverted attention to increase the likelihood of a crash, but the number of people driving distracted is getting worse, not better. To get the message across we needed to deliver it in a credible way. So we partnered with Zoë Bell to show that if a gutsy Hollywood stunt woman wouldn’t drive distracted, then neither should anyone else.”

‘The Most Dangerous Stunt In The World’ amassed hundreds of thousands of views within hours on Bell’s personal Instagram, Facebook and Twitter accounts, accompanied by a steady stream of audience feedback, with one viewer commenting, “As an emergency first responder, I have attended in my time far too many road traffic accidents resulting in injury & death caused by distracted drivers - it's bloody sad, depressing and easily resolvable....be responsible for yourself but more importantly 'others'...!”.

National news and entertainment stations have run coverage of the campaign and the important message has resonated with people around the world, including views from actress Juliette Lewis and popular English singer KT Tunstall.

Ogilvy executive creative director, Lisa Fedyszyn said: “Distracted driving is something we’ve all done and do - Knowingly or not. From a glance at the phone, to a sip of coffee, or an adjustment of the hair or make-up. So, we needed to mirror these dangerous actions back to all Aucklanders, in a non judgemental way, to get them to see just how dangerous these driving habits can be. Having a kick-arse, fearless and daring stunt woman such as Zoë Bell speaking out against these dangerous actions we perform every day, is something we’re very excited about and grateful for.”