The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 plus 7 letter word TRAFFIC ISLANDS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Sunday Telegraph
T
R
A
F
F
I
C
I
S
L
A
N
D
S
More clues leading to the result TRAFFIC ISLANDS
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Middle-of-the-road positions on which it’s safe to take a stand?" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case middle-of-the-road positions on which it’s safe to take a stand? = traffic islands.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.