My take on the whole thing may be different from most riders. I tend to move through traffic instead of with it. When somebody goes to cut me off, I get out of the way first and give dirty looks later or not at all.

If someone cuts me off and I have a few feet of clearance, I take their old spot if there are no other options. Riding the line is always an option but a better one is braking with less force, shifting to the side of the lane and moving alongside the vehicle in front of you. That way you can change lanes if the option exists and you get more pavement out of the deal. I'm pretty comfortable sitting a few feet from a bumper in moving traffic, though. Other riders have commented on it too many times to count- an indicator that my methods aren't for everyone- but the technique that works best for me is braking as little as possible and moving constantly to avoid prolonged exposure to "problem vehicles". (I've heard that this is a trait with ADD riders who wiggle a lot to stay focused)

That said, if you stayed upright and got home safely, you did a great job regardless of funny noises, bad technique or soiled undies. We ALL have 'oh shit' moments ALL the time where we could have done something better. The trick is to figure out what you did wrong and address that. You've done that and have decided you should practice panic stops- that's something we should all practice them- every time I get a new bike, the first thing I test is the stopping distance- there are marks all over my street from it. Adjusting to the bike and the tires is critical but so is lane choice, speed and awareness of your surroundings.

<edit to take out the war story feel >
I have had tires whine before on the track but they were for different uses and sizes than what I had them on- I always figured that if they stuck to the pavement they were doing their job. I figure if you kept the bike up, noise or not, they worked fine. I would check tire pressure in the front, though. I have a ton of experience riding with tires that shouldn't have been on the road and I got around just fine. Don't worry about the noises- if they work, they work. If the noise freaks you out, go with a different tire.