"Eye contact" with car headlights?

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I noticed that in the past, whenever I am a pedestrian walking on the sidewalk and a car comes out of a sidestreet or road, I tend to stare at the headlights of a car when observing whether or not the car will stop for me to cross. I was thinking if other people tended to stare at the driver of the car (so that they can see facial expression or see them do the waving hand motion signalling you to cross) rather than the headlights of a car.

I'm thinking that this might have to do with lack of eye contact. Also, another explanation for me personally is that I always loved observing the motion of cars.

So do you tend to stare at car headlights?

I've never given it much thought, but yes, I never look at the driver!

YES! I can't even make eye contact with drivers, which is bad when I'm driving and at a 4-way stop and someone is probably waving their arms at me to go first

I only make eye contact with the cars too! I ONLY look at the cars! They seem safer and kinder to me, like dogs or horses, than people, who I always imagine are horribly impatient nasty people waiting to honk or cuss at me when I drive too slowly, cause that's the only feedback I ever get from drivers! It's not like they give you the thumbs-up for driving well.

I also look at first at the headlight area/ front of the car, but for a very practical reason. I'd rather rely on the fact that the car actually physically stopped before I start crossing over than on a smiling driver, who could be smiling at the pretty girl/boy behind me and not brake at all, .
I always wave a "thank you" to the driver whilst crossing, but do not look directly at him/her, because most of the time the windscreen is reflecting and I can't see their face.

that's a pretty excellent point there!

I do look only at the cars, actually.

Strangely enough, I am usually better at predicting what the car will do than most NTs doing it their way.

Mind you, it works very well in theory, .
It does not mean that I have not been seen traipsing in front of a car, looking completely lost in thought, and believe you me, the driver was not smiling then... .

When there's nothing special, I look only at the headlights too. When I see there's an incident forming, I usually switch to the driver to see if he signs something that is directed at me.

When cycling, I'm always supposed to look at the drivers on the side street before crossing a road according to an unwritten safety rule. Instead, I look at the headlights, it has the same recognizing effect. (Safe city cycling requires approx. 3 times the attention than driving, including this mandatory head turning, selecting the optimal position on the road, watching out more attentively for everything, always prepared for quick corrective maneuvers).

I don't know if I specifically stare at the headlights, but I rarely look at drivers. In fact, even though I logically know every car is just an object with people inside of it and steering it, when I am driving (and walking), I tend to lose sight of this. I don't see cars as containers of people. I see cars as mobile objects free from humanity. So looking for a human within is rare with me.

Another cyclist once told me that one of the best ways to avoid accidents was to make eye-contact with a car's driver. When I come up to an intersection and see a car that is about to turn I always actively attempt to make eye-contact with the driver. I will literary stare at the driver until I know they have seen me. I think if you make eye-contact with the driver then you know that the driver knows your there... though this doesn't make me any less cautious as sometimes they still pull out in front of me.

When I am walking though I tend to just look either the wheels/brake calipers or axels/differentials if the car is sitting high enough. On a long walk I usually count the number of solid axle vs independent suspension setups.

I always look at the turn signals first. Some drivers actually use them. If I can't tell what they are doing I'll just let them go first unless they wave me on. I avoid eye contact with headlights if they are on as I find bright lights painful.

Car headlights are very distracting. At night it's practically all I can see of another car. In the daytime, I don't notice them so much. I find myself staring at license plates, especially if they are specialized.

Last edited by ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo on 29 Jul 2011, 11:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I do this too! And I never look at whos driving the car. Well, I kinda do. But like some time I will stare at them and count how many seconds before they realize they are being stared at. Then when they look at me I look away.

I never look at the person in the car unless I force myself to. It just doesn't come natural to me.