Ever since smartphones became the norm in the early 2010s, the habit of texting and driving has grown substantially across the United States. Even though Americans all acknowledge the danger it puts them, they still continue to do it, especially teens.

This past week at South, State Farm Insurance sponsored an activity that allowed students to test their texting and driving skills. Not many could relate to the skills part though as the majority of students who confidently stepped up humbly stepped down. A few students had different thoughts on the simulator though.

“I didn’t think it was super realistic but it definitely showed somewhat the effect of texting and driving,” Sophomore JT Kelly said

Another sophomore, Zoey Benton, had similar thoughts and said “I thought it was cool but unrealistic to how driving actually is.”

The goal of the entire test definitely wasn’t to impress students by the virtual reality technology or give them the excitement of finally being behind the wheel by themselves.

“The goal is just to get as many kids through it and teach them how dangerous it is to text and drive,” Jay True said.

People can hope that the message was received by the simulator participants as 21% of teen drivers involved in fatal accidents were distracted by their cell phones.

All in all, Americans may have somewhat of an obsession with their phones and texting and driving, but the dangers have been realized and are now being taught about in the grassroots to prevent an epidemic in the future.