You’re on your motorcycle, tooling along, driving safely by not speeding, not weaving in and out of traffic, staying in the middle of your lane and wearing all the proper motorcycle safety gear.

While keeping your eye on traffic, you notice another driver in a car in the lane next to you, inching closer and closer to the vehicle in front of him. That driver isn’t paying a bit of attention to you, and sure enough, suddenly swerves in front of you to go around the car.

This is the perfect scenario for a potential motorcycle crash. You’re not able to stop as quickly, and if you were to swerve out of the way, you could potentially cause your bike to slide out from under you.

Motorcycle accident statistics report that in 2008, 114,000 motorcycles were involved in crashes, resulting in 96,000 injuries and 5,290 deaths, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Keeping an eye on other drivers is probably the best motorcycle riding tip you can learn. Here are some driving behaviors to watch for:

* Cell phone use. The National Highway Traffic Safety reports 15 people are killed every day by distracted drivers and is promoting a campaign for cell-free driving with FocusDriven, an advocacy group for victims of crashes involving drivers using cell phones. If you see a driver using a cell phone, be prepared to give him a wide berth.

* Speeding and traffic weaving. Drivers speeding down the road and weaving between traffic might not be looking long enough around them to catch a glimpse of you on your motorcycle. Go on the defensive and avoid these drivers if you are able to.

* In-town hesitant driving. When drivers are trying to read road signs or maps, or just figure out where they are, they aren’t going to be paying attention to you on your motorcycle. If you are approaching him, a lost driver may suddenly decide to turn across your lane of traffic right in front of you. Don’t assume drivers are going to stick to the same driving pattern, or that they will use turn signals to indicate their intentions.