The worst kind of driver is one who is afraid to overtake a police car. It's easy to spot them - they're the ones driving at the exact same speed as the police, but slightly behind them thus blocking all the traffic. Worst of all, if the police car is doing less than the speed limit, and everyone is afraid to pass it, then we're stuck with not only a roadblock, but a slow-moving roadblock at that.
Listen: the police aren't going to arrest you for overtaking them. Most cops are pretty reasonable. As long as you're not driving like a total dick, they won't stop you for doing 70mph on a 65mph freeway (in the US), or 80mph on a 70mph motorway (in England). Just get past them and get on with your journey.
It's always a source of amusement to me to do this because I'll end up on completely clear motorway, and in my mirrors I can see four or five lanes of heavy, clogged-up traffic all jostling for position because they're all afraid to pass the one police car on the inside lane.
This leads to another point of contention: when the police have someone stopped at the side of the road, don't slow down and look. Don't slow down because you're afraid they'll do you for speeding. They won't; they're already busy dealing with another driver. They're not looking at you. And you shouldn't be looking at them. You see cops all the time. Concentrate on driving, eyes forward and just keep going. Because once you turn to look, you'll slow down and then you'll cause a phantom traffic jam, which ultimately will result in an accident.
