At intersections the special needs

At intersections the special needs of trucks (e.g. manoeuvrability) and cyclists (e.g. to be seen) are very different and rarely are either given priority over the mobility and safety and needs of the car occupants. At crossings and other intersections, cyclists and trucks share road space with all other road users unless separated by time. While the sharing of space is moderated in many Northern European cities, in most other cities, including Australian cities, cyclists generally fend for themselves at intersections. Cyclists are more exposed than pedestrians as they are: on the roadway, often without marked space and in the case of cyclist usually without any special signal phasing. Also, for cyclists at very low speed, balance is an issue, particularly for novice and senior cyclists. Cyclists are very heterogeneous, with wide ranging levels of ability, from fit and aggressive recreational riders, to cautious and in some cases unfit older people simply riding to a local destination. The diversity of ages is also important, ranging from the young who may not know the road rules to some older riders who may have difficulty processing and acting on information as with older drivers (and riders) they may look for hazards but not see (Reed, Kinnear and Weaver, 2012).