As a regular commuter of some 10+ years in London I've had my fair share of moments and have been knocked off about 8-9 times in that period. And of all those times only one has been in the dark - depsite me running lights that were illegal on road as they were too bright.
So I'd say it's either day time or dusk (essentially the light that you commute in at this time of year) that is the most dangerous.
Here's my (not very scientific) musings.
1. For years I resisted buying a florouscent jacket as I just thought they looked a bit rubbish. So I'd have blue waterproof jackets with a little bit of 3M on them somewhere. I finally relented last year after having a knock which forced me to scrap my bike - bent forks, bent shifters, rear mech, frame was touch and go, helmet ground into the road - driver just drove off too. HAving a florouscent jacket makes you much, much more visible in daylight. But they do fade. I reckon a couple of years after you buy it, you might want to think about replacing it.
2. You may be tecnically 'in the right' but it doesn't prevent you from being literally 'in the hospital'. Unfortunately, drivers tend to use might is right as their guidance. As mentioned elsewhere, cyclists are at the bottom of the food chain.
3. Don't go anywhere near the left-hand of trucks if they're anywhere near a junction. They have a huge blind spot and most of the cyclists killed in London are as a result of undertaking a truck and being squished.
4. Always look for an escape route. This is good driving practice too. By this I mean try to avoid putting yourself in a situation where your only option is to brake. try to position yourself in such a way that you can swerve to avoid something too.
5. Look a long way ahead. If you're approcahing a junction - already get your head moving to spot cars approaching it. Be wary of someone trying to overtake and then cut left, of people coming the other way and turning right and, of course, of people just pulling out.
6. If someone's crossing a road in front of you, I've found it better to not shout at them. THey tend to freeze or do something stupid. It's better to say nothing and just aim for a space behind them.
What I've come to realise in this time is that you have to assume that if someone can do something stupid, they will. And this doesn't just include drivers, it includes pedestrians too.
I've had people run between cars and straight into my path, I've had people run to try and make it across a crossing when the lights had already gone green and I've had people jumping both on and off of Routemaster busses without looking. This is probably the funniest of them all, but I was appraching a Routemaster from behind which was stationary in traffic at lights. I was in the cycle lane getting ready to go past on the left. I could see someone coming down the stairs and figured they looked like they were going to jump off without looking for me. So slowed down a little and tried to time it so that they'd be gone by the time I got there. All well and good except I hadn't seen they were pulling a wheely bag behins them. So they jumped offthe bus and I went straight into their bag.
I also currently have two front lights on my bars and one on the my helmet. I've found having one on my helmet allows me to shine the beam directly at people and helps me be seen.
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Sounds like a good idea too.
