I tend to cycle more towards the middle of the road, too. It seems better to me if the driver has to make a conscious effort to overtake me, rather than thinking "this might just fit" and pushing me into the parked cars. It all depends on the car, too. If a bus is crawling up behind me, I might just stop on the sidewalk until it has passed me.

However, I don't really know the driver's perspective.

There was also a guy who experimented with wearing a bicycle helmet finding that drivers would leave less distance when overtaking him when he wore the helmet. Apparently they assumed he was a more skilled cyclist because of the helmet.