Pavement etiquette

Now I ride strictly on roads and cyclepaths but I make a point of riding as close as possible to pedestrians who walk on the cycle path. Not to be an asshole, but on the hope that they realise where they are walking.

I get shit scared when cars/vans etc. overtake me with minimum space to make me realise that I do not belong on the roads. Why would you want to piss off/scare somebody?