The thought processes of traffic cops

I wonder sometimes what goes through the brains of traffic policemen. OK, I know the expression "the brains of traffic policemen" is an oxymoron. But still. Who can tell what these boys are thinking of sometimes? A fortnight ago I was heading up to my parents' place in Teesside; it was late and I was bowling along the M18 a couple of miles before it meets the A1(M). There were some roadworks which meant the outside lane was closed but unusually the speed limit wasn't reduced to 50.

So I was travelling along in the middle lane minding my own business doing sixty or so, passing everything in the left lane, when I was flashed by the car behind. In common with, I suspect, a lot of people, my normal reaction to this is to mutter "fuck you, Tonto, and the BMW you rode up in" and I don't budge, though there is usually nothing so certain as that thirty seconds later there will be another flash of lights. Sometimes I play this game for quite a while before I eventually get bored enough or irritated enough to pull over and let the impatient motherfucker in the BMW (and it usually is a BMW) shoot past and harass the next person in his way.

In this case, I had no interest in pulling over because there was a steady stream of traffic in the left lane and I didn't want to slow down just to accommodate a dickhead in a big car. So when, as sure as day turns to night, the next flash of headlights came I uttered a torrent of epithets not suitable for a family audience and gave him the finger. Which drew an immediate response in the form of flashing blue lights. I sighed "oh, for fuck's sake" and pulled over, whereupon I was passed with considerable urgency by a police Volvo estate and then another police Volvo estate.

Which brings me back to my original question: what are these boys thinking of? If you're a policeman I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you've got a good reason for demanding to be past. But why approach it in the same manner as the average Boss-suited prick in a 5 Series BMW, guaranteed to irk the driver in front and likely to make them dig their heels in and refuse to move? How about putting the blue lights on first, Scooter? That way I know you're a cop and I'll get out of your way. Not rocket science, is it?