Defensive riding - how not to die (or get seriously injured)

Eye contact

Take the lane if in any doubt

Ride confidently

Make the drivers decision for them, don't leave them with any doubt where you're going

Make eye contact…

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Been hit twice in a matter of months, lost 1/3 of a finger, can’t bend two, permabroken left clavicle, reworked tibia and slightly bent knee, both drivers at fault, police do very little, life sucks but ehh, look forward to not dying on the road in the near future.

If you have a motorbike with car-quality mirrors, and you check them often, it's not possible for anything to get into your blind spot without you seeing it on its approach. Mirrors need to be used well.

I wouldn’t rely on that, no matter how good your mirrors are. A look over your shoulder isn’t called a Lifesaver for nothing.

the things people do to minimise the risk of getting in incidents owing to others' stupidity, or your own carelessness.

As well as all the good points in this thread, for me a big thing is having an "instinct/ sixth sense"of the situation. In reality this probably just means observation, vigilance, awareness, and the ability to dynamically adapt to a varying situation. This can be developed with experience, but unfortunately I also suspect some people are inherently better at this than others. (Which is why I think decent segregated infrastructure is essential to get mass numbers cycling)

The ‘lifesaver’ observation is probably one of the biggest for me and being aware of what’s going on far ahead of you.

I also read that when you are riding directly at someone they are very likely to not see you unless there’s some lateral movement. A little bit of swerving left to right (within reason) helps get you get noticed. Helpful when riding towards a junction and someone’s about to pull out.

Paying attention to direction of vehicle’s front wheels, people may forget about the indicator but often turn the steering wheel before start maneuvering. This and a LifeSaver (shoulder check) saved my bacon many times

Pulled out from a junction after a red light changed green and narrowly missed a moped jumping the adjacent red light at full-speed - that'll teach me to forget looking for incoming traffic at junctions..