Monday night we ran a story on our 11 p.m. newscast about the conflict between drivers and cyclists in Portland.

The purpose of the story was to separate fact from fiction and bring some light to this debate over sharing the road.

Amy Troy has done an excellent job of balancing this story. The views of drivers and cyclists are well represented.

More importantly, Amy has looked at the facts. And the fact is that both cyclists and drivers ignore traffic laws and endanger themselves and others. Another fact is that when it comes to who is at fault in car-bike collisions the blame is spread equally - 50 percent of the time it is the driver's fault and 50 percent of the time it is the cyclist's fault.

What I like most about Amy's story is the sound bite from one cycling advocate who says: "We recently had this car vs. bike debate, and it turned out it really wasn't a debate because we all wanted the same thing - safety."

Taking off my news director's hat, I want to say that I am both a driver and an avid cyclist. As a driver, I have seen cyclists act irresponsibly. And, as a cyclist, I have seen drivers act irresponsibly and scare the heck out of me. We all must do a better job of observing the law, respecting each other, making safety for everyone paramount and sharing the road.

My hope is that Amy's story and Northwest NewsChannel 8 can play a constructive role in bringing cyclists and drivers together with the common goal of keeping everyone safe on the roads we share.

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