speaking from my newly qualified instructor status
(I've been dying to say that) i would say the following.
1. you are entitled to filter and did so on the correct side
but ...
2. I would take on board Gaz's comments from an etiquette point of view. you didn't do anything wrong but your actions did cause unnecessary annoyance. you weren't sure you could get to the front of the queue before the lights changed which means it may not have been the best decision to filter. Probably would have been better to wait at the back in primary position and let cars pull up behind you. Also, you came to an almost standstill just as the traffic was pulling away, which held up the driver longer than necessary, i would have kept moving until the silver car was just in front (or got in front of the silver car) and then signalled my intention to return to primary.
In my opinion filtering and cutting in like this is ok at roundabouts when one or two cars go at a time, leaving gaps to cut into, but I don't think it's appropriate at lights when you haven't got time to get to the front and all the cars will drive off at once, leaving you stranded between two lanes and finding it difficult to return to your position. It is far safer to wait your turn at the back of the queue and then the driver who pulls up behind is less likely to be annoyed at you taking time to pull off (as Gaz states). You can't blame a driver for being impatient if you can't show patience yourself. it's the hair line difference between aggressive cycling and assertive cycling.
We also talk about responsibility -v-avoidability. Often when it is the driver at fault there are things the cyclist could have done to avoid the situation. This isn't about bowing down to the car, and who's right and who's wrong, it's about self preservation. If the car had hit you, it would most likely have been his fault (responsibility), but that isn't going to be any comfort to you at all if you can't ever walk again. If that happened, you might be looking back saying to yourself, "I probably could have avoided that by waiting my turn in the queue" (avoidability). Primary position at the back of the queue is still asserting yourself and forcing drivers to respect your space.
obviously tho, speaking from a non-instructor point of view, i probably would have done the same and then if someone bibbed at me like that i'd ask him if my middle finger belonged to him
