Stop the presses: Mayor Mike McGinn, whom anti-bicycle activists accuse of fomenting a "War on Cars," is having a kumbaya moment with none other than anti-bicycle, anti-transit Seattle Times pundit Joni Balter. In blog posts published within a day of each other, the politically opposed duo both called for more respect between drivers and bicycle riders.

All it took was a rash of cyclists dying in collisions with cars this summer. In Seattle, the most recent death was 23-year-old Robert Townsend, killed in a car collision on September 10 while on a bicycle delivery run.

A few days after Townsend's death, McGinn announced a "summit of community leaders, experts, and elected officials to determine how we can best encourage an attitude of responsibility and empathy on the roads." His staffers say the event will likely be held at City Hall within a month, and Council Member Sally Bagshaw has joined the planning.

Meanwhile, Balter dropped her divisive braying that "cars are being shoved aside" (imagine that, bicycles pushing cars aside, even though it's the cyclists who always seem to die in the collisions). She lamented the latest fatality, calling it a "tragic reminder of how bad relations between bikes and cars have become."

Once one of the city's loudest anti-bicycle agitators, a now-subdued Balter continued, "We really have to find ways to do better."

Balter's evolution is remarkable, and so is the fact that McGinn, politically marginalized for much of his term so far, now finds himself untouchable on a controversial city issue. As he presses his green transportation agenda of road diets that trade car lanes for bicycle lanes, funding for new bicycle infrastructure, and lowering car speeds on bicycle thoroughfares, McGinn can say—and he did in his blog post—"I stood up for safety."