External human-machine interfaces (eHMIs) may be useful for communicating the intention of an automated vehicle (AV) to a pedestrian, but it is unclear which eHMI design is most effective. In a crowdsourced experiment, we examined the effects of (1) colour (red, green, cyan), (2) position (roof, bumper, windshield), (3) message (WALK, DON’T WALK, WILL STOP, WON’T STOP, light bar), (4) activation distance (35 or 50 m from the pedestrian), and (5) the presence of visual distraction in the environment, on pedestrians' perceived safety of crossing the road in front of yielding and non-yielding AVs. Participants (N = 1434) had to press a key when they felt safe to cross while watching a random 40 out of 276 videos of an approaching AV with eHMI. Results showed that (1) green and cyan eHMIs led to higher perceived safety of crossing than red eHMIs; no significant difference was found between green and