Pedestrian interaction with vehicles : roles of explicit and implicit communication

This paper presents a study that aimed to identify the importance of eye contact and gestures between pedestrians and drivers. A video-based observation and coding was undertaken to categorize the road-crossing and communication behavior of pedestrians and drivers in busy traffic situations where efficient negotiation is necessary. The evidence in the study suggests that eye contact does not play a major role in manual driving, that explicit communication is rare to non-existent, and that motion patterns and behaviors of vehicles play a more significant role for pedestrians in efficient traffic negotiations.