Sorry to hear about your bad experience, Aaron. I have never been forced to bail, but I have pulled over a few times, just to make certain.

Making oneself more visible is not a substitute for ignoring one's surroundings. Safely sharing the road with motorized vehicles means using many strategies: wearing day-glow colours, staying vigilant, riding predictably, and so on. When I hear a vehicle from behind, the first thing I do is check my mirror.

My experience has been that drivers start moving over earlier since I began donning a bright vest. Who knows? Maybe the bright vest is more likely to catch the eye of a distracted driver than a black T-shirt.