We've all been there.

You're driving to work, minding your own business, when someone flies past you like they're trying to qualify for the Indy 500. You shake your head, complain about reckless drivers and wonder where people learned to drive.

Well... there's a pretty good chance you might be one of them.

A new study from AAA finds that 79% of American drivers admit to speeding.

Only 21% say they never speed.

Among the rest, 15% say they speed frequently, 30% say they sometimes speed, and 34% admit they're rare speeders.

And when AAA asked drivers why they're speeding, the answers were surprisingly honest.

Why Are We Speeding?

The most common answer was essentially, "That person in front of me is driving WAY too slow."

• 31% speed to get around slower drivers.

• 25% speed because they want to reach their destination faster.

• 21% speed because they don't want to hold up traffic.

In other words, apparently being five minutes late is a bigger emergency than we realized.

What Would Actually Make Us Slow Down?

Here's where things get interesting.

79% of drivers say avoiding a ticket would convince them to slow down.

72% say avoiding a crash would make them ease off the gas.

And 60% say they'd slow down because of bad weather.

Most drivers actually believe posted speed limits are appropriate. But many also think driving 10 miles per hour over the limit is acceptable.

Nearly half of drivers even believe that "keeping up with traffic" is safer than following the posted speed limit.

And 30% don't think speeding is a big deal because, according to them, "no one actually drives the speed limit."

Except, of course, the person in front of you.

They're apparently driving way too slow.

The Bigger Problem

There's a serious reason this matters beyond annoying the person in the next lane.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, speeding is a factor in nearly 30% of traffic fatalities.

So the next time you're tempted to turn your commute into a qualifying lap, maybe give yourself a few extra minutes and take your foot off the gas.

Because apparently, the reckless driver we've been complaining about might be looking back at us from the rearview mirror.