TY - JOUR
T1 - Cross-national differences in drivers’ eye contact and traffic violations
T2 - An online survey across 20 countries
AU - de Winter, J. C.F.
AU - Onkhar, V.
AU - Dodou, D.
PY - 2025
Y1 - 2025
N2 - The advent of self-driving cars has sparked discussions about eye contact in traffic, particularly due to challenges that automated vehicles face in non-verbal communication with human road users. In his 1992 book, Turn Signals Are The Facial Expressions Of Automobiles, Don Norman describes how drivers in Mexico City deliberately avoid eye contact when entering a roundabout to create uncertainty in the minds of other drivers, leading the latter to yield right of way. Norman argued that such manipulative or aggressive behavior would not be tolerated in the United States. In the present study, we tested these claims through an online survey involving 3,857 respondents from 20 countries. The results confirmed that Mexican drivers reported a higher frequency of non-speeding ‘aggressive’ violations compared to those from most other countries. Regarding eye contact in the roundabout scenario presented in the survey, national differences were found not so much in the frequency of eye contact but in the reasons behind its use. Mexican drivers tended to avoid eye contact to reduce tension or avoid conflict with other drivers. However, they also frequently reported making eye contact to assert or subtly enforce their right of way. In higher-income countries like the United States, driver-driver eye contact is often deemed unnecessary. In conclusion, our findings partially correspond with Norman's anecdote based on his experiences in 1950s Mexico City. These results may have implications for understanding the stability of traffic cultures and the challenges related to eye contact and non-verbal communication faced by developers of automated vehicles.
AB - The advent of self-driving cars has sparked discussions about eye contact in traffic, particularly due to challenges that automated vehicles face in non-verbal communication with human road users. In his 1992 book, Turn Signals Are The Facial Expressions Of Automobiles, Don Norman describes how drivers in Mexico City deliberately avoid eye contact when entering a roundabout to create uncertainty in the minds of other drivers, leading the latter to yield right of way. Norman argued that such manipulative or aggressive behavior would not be tolerated in the United States. In the present study, we tested these claims through an online survey involving 3,857 respondents from 20 countries. The results confirmed that Mexican drivers reported a higher frequency of non-speeding ‘aggressive’ violations compared to those from most other countries. Regarding eye contact in the roundabout scenario presented in the survey, national differences were found not so much in the frequency of eye contact but in the reasons behind its use. Mexican drivers tended to avoid eye contact to reduce tension or avoid conflict with other drivers. However, they also frequently reported making eye contact to assert or subtly enforce their right of way. In higher-income countries like the United States, driver-driver eye contact is often deemed unnecessary. In conclusion, our findings partially correspond with Norman's anecdote based on his experiences in 1950s Mexico City. These results may have implications for understanding the stability of traffic cultures and the challenges related to eye contact and non-verbal communication faced by developers of automated vehicles.
KW - Aggressive driving
KW - Communication
KW - Crowdsourcing
KW - Cultural differences
KW - Eye contact
KW - Online study
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85214289018&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.trf.2024.12.021
DO - 10.1016/j.trf.2024.12.021
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85214289018
SN - 1369-8478
VL - 109
SP - 711
EP - 725
JO - Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour
JF - Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour
ER -