Take solace in the fact that the law is on your side - most drivers know this, so they are deathly afraid of hitting you. Take as much room as you want in the lane, drivers will avoid you.

There are a hundred things I can tell you that would make your commute safer, but the following if by far the most useful:

Even during daylight/sunny days, get a very bright headlight and angle it so it blinks in the eyes of oncoming traffic. This will prevent oncoming cars from making left turns into you.

Doing this saves me on almost a daily basis when I ride on what is basically a highway with a bunch of yield-to-turn left-turn lights - I started doing it after someone didn't see me and made a left turn into me.