Abstract: Australian policy makers and planners have for several years sought to encourage more cycling in cities. For more cycling to be sustained, ordinary people across a range of ages and abilities need to feel safe when cycling. Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) fatality comparisons however indicate that Australia has failed to provide safe conditions for cycling and that the trend has been for Australian cycling to become less safe compared to other modes. In several European cities, a systematic approach over decades and involving all levels of Government has led to safer cycling and more cycling. The barriers in Australia appear to include a lack of political will and reluctance amongst road managers and regulators to fully pursue a ‘safe systems’ approach. Working for a safe system would require significant changes to road space allocation and management, including more separation for cyclists; changed priorities for road investment; empowering local governments; and at the national level, changes to the design rules for heavy vehicles. This paper explores barriers to and enablers for safe cycling by comparing Inner Melbourne to two leading Northern European cycling cities: Amsterdam and Copenhagen. The case of intersections, where most serious cyclists injuries occur and the interactions between truck drivers and people on bikes (road users at opposite extremes of vulnerability) are used to explore some safe system possibilities.