The road safety issue really annoys me ? it is still medieval
Road casualties use up 2% of GDP according to OECD. This is huge
Buses (main companies) are 10 times safer than cars simply because the drivers get 6 weeks extra training and have black box recorder on the bus.
This would be easy to roll out and the Tories could have their cuts and Labour could have their spend, as well as sparing misery to all the victims and their families

It does indeed sound really scarey - especially as you seem to have been doing all the right things.

As it happens, I was with a group of cyclists this weekend who were also talking about the problem of persuading cars to give them enough room. One of the points that emerged was that it seems to be an accepted fact that motorists have difficulty judging the position or distance of a flashing LED light - although a flashing light is good for attracting attention generally, you need a steady light for the other person to be able to tell where you are (so the recommendation was that cyclists should have both a flashing and an LED light, which I think you probably had anyway).

I think there is an increasing risk these days that motorists will be distracted, momentarily or for longer spells, by all their technology - Satnav, mobile phones, complicated electronic dashboard displays or fiddling with their radio or CD player. Add to that the fact that in the evenings drivers may have been drinking, and that on the whole motorists don't expect to meet walkers after dark on onlit roads, and the risk factors start to add up. Sadly, I'm not sure what we can do except don the high-viz gear and remain constantly vigilant.

Ooo errr - this doesn't sound good. I would have thought everything you actually did would be sufficient. The only other thing is to keep a watch for all the cars and be prepared to jump out of the way if you think it looks like the car is too close. I would hope it's because they haven't seen you - you are probably going to be a surprise to them whereas you should be expecting cars to come along the road.

Following a very, very close encounter with a car doing 50mph in which I was knocked over I was wondering if anyone has any practical advice on walking on roads at night?

For the record, I was wearing my rucksack with reflective strips on the front, a headtorch and an LED light on the shoulder strap of my rucksack. I was walking, as per the Highway Code, facing oncoming traffic.