Bike Bis points to some tips by Steve Sievert on preparing to travel safely on the roads, including:
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wear a helmet (Spinopsys recently put this argument to bed)
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do a safety check
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carry a phone
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let someone know before you go
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ride defensively
On the last point, it's worth looking at Ken Kifer's "How to Avoid Bike-Car Collisions, Illustrated", both those caused by motorist and those caused by cyclist. The bluntly named "How to Not Get Hit by Cars" has a left-for-right swapped version (for those of us who travel on the left) hosted by Sydney Critical Mass. And similar advice in summary form is offered by the City of Minneapolis.
Or you could just do what I did: search in Google on the words avoid, bike, and collision.