The Iowa state government is using Taylor Swift lyrics in the most unexpected way

Taylor Swift knows better than anyone how to write catchy lyrics — especially when it comes to heartache and breakups. One thing that we don’t generally think about when we think of Taylor Swift songs, though, is texting and driving — until now. The state of Iowa is using lyrics from one of Swift’s latest singles, Look What You Made Me Do, to try to curb driving fatalities. And tbh, we are LOVING their creativity.

Starting on Monday, drivers saw road signs with the following message:

This billboard is a part Iowa’s Zero Fatalities campaign. In the state of Iowa, it’s legal to use a cell phone for talking or navigating while driving, but they emphasize that just because it’s legal doesn’t mean it’s safe. And what about texting and driving?

This is both very illegal and very unsafe.

They have provided some statistics to put things in perspective. While it may seem that peeking over at your phone to check a text takes a second, or less than a second, the average “glance” is about 4.6 seconds. Insane. This, combined with the fact that 37% of your brain activity veers away from driving when texting, makes us three times more likely to get into an accident.

The state of Iowa lost 46 lives last year due to distracted driving. Terrifying.

The state of Iowa always tends to go the extra mile to get people thinking about safe driving. They have used pop culture a couple of times before, like with this Dirty Dancing message:

Ghostbusters:

And Star Wars:

We love that Iowa is doing everything they can to get people to think about safe driving. We hope this campaign reminds more people to put the phones down while driving. It’s never worth it!