User3143 said:
I really don't see how. I was refering to the OP taking primary, and if the OP was to take primary then the people who would overtake him, really would have to ''overtake'' rather then trying to squeeze through a gap.
I'm talking about lunatics who will not be stopped no matter what. I agree about the primary thing generally, I'm just saying that if someone 10 cars back isn't prepared to wait 8 minutes, decides to 'go for it' and then encounters an oncoming vehicle, do you think (s)he will choose a head-on collision or to swerve into the cyclist in primary to her/his side?
I was out on a winter ride a few years back and was descending the long hill into Hebden Bridge in primary position. There was ice and snow at the side of the road so secondary wasn't even an option. A stream of tourist traffic was coming up the hill and being held back slightly by a slowish car at the front. We're not talking cyclist slow here, probably about 25 mph. That was still too slow for someone at the back of the queue of cars. He poked his nose out, saw me and floored the throttle. (I know he saw me because I had a very bright front light on and he switched his lights full on and held his hand on the horn all the way towards me).
This maniac was prepared to kill me if I didn't get out of his way. I had no way to stop in time. I couldn't go to the right because of the other cars. I couldn't go left to secondary position because of the snow and ice. I basically had to stare down at the road to save what was left of my vision and aim my front wheel just right of the ice. The car missed me by inches.
If someone is prepared to do that to a cyclist coming towards them, I'm quite sure that they'd have no problem side-swiping one going in the same direction if they 'were in the way'.
I did suggest that if the OP couldn't avoid that road, then primary position was the way to go. I'm just saying don't expect all the drivers behind to wait the 8 minutes to pass through that section - they won't. Make some progress, then get out of the way. It doesn't matter what the rights and wrongs of the situation are - it's a case of what is least likely to get you killed.
I've just thought of another example. On
The North West Passage audax a couple of years ago, I met an old guy who had just been knocked off his bike by a farmer on the A682 between Barrowford and Gisburn. That's a notorious stretch of road. It's scenically lovely, but it's narrow in places, has twists and turns and dips. If drivers used it sensibly it would be fine. Some don't, so it isn't. The old chap in question and his mates had been riding along when the farmer decided that he wasn't prepared to wait and overtook in his 4x4 round a blind bend. He encountered a truck coming the other way and swerved back in to where the cyclists were. Unfortunately, the trailer he was towing hit one of the cyclists and knocked him off the road. Fortunately he wasn't badly hurt.
Primary position protects cyclists from sensible motorists who can see when it isn't safe to overtake and don't. It doesn't protect them from idiots who can't and do!
, but obviously it could be a problem on a wider road. I wait for the day when some nutter does try to go up the inside, though, even though they'd have to mount the kerb to do it. 
