Looking at traffic

An odd observation: When crossing a street, either on a bike or on foot, people tend to stop if you look at them, but they'll continue (without stopping) if you look away. On some level, this makes sense: If they stop and you're not looking at them, you won't realize that they've stopped to let you by, and this will cause a problem (and, on some level, they won't "get credit" for ceding the right-of-way). Still, on another level, it seems odd: Hey, that guy's not looking at me--let me barrell through the intersection!

Posted 00:56 PST