if you're on foot or bike, crossing a road with a lot of traffic can be difficult/unsafe unless there's an intersection with traffic lights.

interestingly, this runs counter to the idea that intersections incur a delay, and people therefore prefer routes without intersections.

i suppose it depends on the amount of traffic (which again depends on time of day). it would be great if OSRM included an option to prefer crossing bigger roads at intersections (perhaps taking time of day into account), while still overall preferring routes with few intersections.