Students from J.E.B. Stuart High School on Tuesday joined Virginia Del. Kaye Kory, Drive Smart Virginia and representatives from AT&T to address a dangerous practice that puts millions of Americans at risk: texting while driving.

To drive home the message and make roads and highways safer, AT&T brought a virtual reality simulator to J.E.B. Stuart High School, allowing students and faculty to experience firsthand the dangers of texting and driving. The event was one in a series of events taking place across Virginia this week.

During the event, students had the opportunity to “drive” an in-vehicle, texting-while-driving simulator, exposing them to the dangers of texting while driving. The simulator is a computerized system used within a real car attached with sensors, making the steering wheel and pedals operable for the simulation. Through a head-mounted display, students see a fully-rendered virtual reality. The software is able to recreate real-life driving scenarios including pedestrians crossing the street, red lights, and cars changing lanes on the road. At the conclusion of each simulation, students were able to view a scorecard showing their performance, further emphasizing the dangers of texting and driving.