This from the Ottawa blog's moderator...Andy Clarke...

There's been lots of discussion around here the past couple of days about the reaction to the incident in Kanata on Sunday morning where five cyclists were injured. Reading the comments section below the original web article on the incident, reminded me in a way of the dog debate -- you know the one that pits dog owners who want Fido to be able to run free, and without restraint, versus those who believe that any dog off its leash is trouble waiting to happen. There is very little middle ground in that debate. And reading the comments attached to the bike story, there appeared to be very little middle ground between drivers and cyclists. After a while, the comments section basically degenerates into a mutual recrimination session between the two, each taking shots at the other side for the transgressions the other side apparently routinely commits.
So there was lots of talk about that, and what it meant. I wanted to write something up for the blog commenting on the comments. But it was a struggle. And so for a different perspective I turned to the imaginative brain that belongs to CBC Ottawa web journalist Kerry MacGregor. Kerry can consistently be counted on to deliver a different take on events of the day. She suggests that this is one of those instances where our own perspectives change depending on what we're doing. When we're driving, we curse those cyclists who we believe are taking up too much of the road. When we're cycling, we rail against aggressive drivers who don't give us enough room. When we're walking, we're prepared to be pissed off at both -- drivers who are in too much of a rush to turn right against the light, or cyclists who think the sidewalk belongs to them. Her point is that all those feelings can be expressed by the same person. I'll admit that I occassionally cycle on a sidewalk to cut the wrong way down a one-way street on my bike, but if I see someone else do it, I think..."look at that idiot". What do you think? Is there any middle ground here? We'd like to hear your thoughts.