The thing is, every time a car passes a bicycle on a busy road, especially one that isn't designed to accommodate bicycles and cars safely (i.e., one with 0 inches paved shoulder to the right of the white line) it is inherently dangerous. And if the bicycle causes the same car to pass multiple times, the agitation of the driver goes up. The safe thing to do, is for the bicycle to go ahead and pass on the right, stop at the light, then wait for the cars that already passed once to clear through the intersection before proceeding. At least that's what I try to do when I cycle to work (i.e., not treat the cars as enemies, but to be empathetic). And if I happen to be on a road with a lot of traffic, I'll periodically hit the gravel for a bit for cars to get around me if there is oncoming traffic.
If I'm on a 2-lane road, and gravel next to the white line... a car is passing me and having to cross the center line. Meanwhile, a big gravel truck is approaching over the hill in the oncoming lane. The 4000 lb car to the left of me can either wrestle with the 25000 lb gravel truck, or the 200 lb me. Now guess why I'm willing to hit the gravel and let the car back over.
