Look into my eyes: Campaign encourages making eye contact with drivers before crossing the street

VIENNA, Va. - One Virginia town is encouraging pedestrians to make eye contact with drivers in an effort to increase safety. 

Vienna's Eye to Eye campaign is backed by volunteers and city leaders hoping to curb pedestrian-related incidents. 

The new neon yellow signs can be seen across Vienna. The signs say, "Look! Make eye contact before crossing," and feature a stick figure pedestrian. 

City leaders say the signage comes at a time when the city has experienced an increase in foot traffic post-pandemic. Pedestrian fatalities are reportedly up significantly post-pandemic and in Fairfax County, almost half the people killed in traffic fatalities were reportedly pedestrians.

Alongside the new campaign, a new law is in effect in Virginia that requires drivers to completely stop – not yield – if a pedestrian is crossing the street. 

The campaign kicked off at the end of summer and runs through October, but the signs will remain up indefinitely.