Originally Posted by debade

Thanks Miele Man for you comment. I did search around and found a very recent study discussing eye contact. It supports your comment but the study I found was based on pedestrians, not bicyclists.

Having said that, I think the eye contact concern is legitimate for cyclists as well. However, the act of looking back toward a motorist is a good physical signal, in addition to hand signals, that the bicyclist is planning to move from their current path. I see it as part of the entire signalling approach. So, I would continue the 'eye contact' movement, the hand signal and as you say, continue to pay attention to the actual movement of the vehicle.