There are some surprisingly sensible posts on this thread which is greatly encouraging. Thanks. (And some predictable trolling ones...)

I will query this though: the idea of a pedestrian first catching the driver's eye.
When crossing Perry Vale for example (which uses this crossing-free wild-west model), I cannot usually see car drivers' faces at all. All a pedestrian can see is glare from the laminated screen. It's the way they are angled.
(Drivers of Buses, vans and un-aerodynamic British cars from the '60s can be seen fine.)

So if a driver thinks he is meaningfully visually negotiating with a pedestrian through the windscreen, they are probably mistaken. We simply cannot see their cheery waves and smiling face...