Not wishing to patronise anyone and I realise this is in hindsight, but it's good practice to overtake trucks with a lane between you or if you're on an A road a couple of beeps of the horn as you're going past if it looks like they may try to overtake. This is commonplace in China for example where people are constantly blowing their horns on the roads. I know it's a different culture in the UK and is often seen as being aggressive but if they want to stick two fingers up as you go past, fine, it's better than the alternative.
Sorry to hear about your wife's accident. Hope all gets sorted for you.
