I learned that acting like a legitimate part of traffic makes drivers treat you like a legitimate part of traffic. Use lights (use them during daylight), signal, avoid blind spots, take lanes, smile, stop and let people turn left in front of you. I think everytime I've allowed some to turn left or allowed them to turn right into traffic I've converted a driver to "bike friendly".
I also learned how to adjust my bike so my hands don't go numb and my nether regions don't get sore
jim