Shared road space

on eye contact:

I had been an assertive pedestrian and cyclist for a decade and thought that my skills were somehow lacking cause I failed to use eye contact that was advocated in many respectful competent cycling advice. Then I read this and stopped worrying:

This eye-contact argument has been repeated endlessly as if there were
meaning to it. For most traffic cycling situations, at least at my
speeds, at the times that it is necessary to decide what another driver
is going to do, typically most of the distances are too great to
determine which way the other driver's eyes are pointed, or there is no
direct line of sight from one set of eyes to the other set. Like so many
others of the instructions prepared by those who know nothing, its
authors have never tested it to see whether or not it works in the real
world of traffic operations.

John Forester, MS, PE
Bicycle Transportation Engineer
7585 Church St, Lemon Grove CA 91945
619-644-5481
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/chainguard/message/24799