Motorists take their eyes off the road for almost 18% of their time behind the wheel as they get distracted by clouds, scenery and advertisements, according to a new study on driver behaviour.

The research, commissioned by Direct Line, finds that, on average, drivers take their eyes off the road every nine seconds.

Using the latest eye-tracking technology, the study recorded drivers’ eye movements in order to understand where and what they were looking at and how focused they were on roads.

It was found that drivers using sat nav devices are more distracted than others, with 22% of their time behind the wheel being spent focused away from the road.

For at least 12% of the total travelling time, motorists completely concentrate on sat nav screen.

In contrast, an average driver spends 3.2% of their journey time on checking mirrors and just 2% looking at oncoming vehicles.

"On average drivers take their eyes off the road every nine seconds."

On a journey from London to Brighton, which takes nearly one and half hours, a driver spends 11 minutes of their journey time with looking at the sat nav screen.

An average motorist spends around 7% of time looking at clouds and scenery, while 0.8% on advertisements. Drivers look at road signs for 0.6% of their journey time.

It was also found that an average driver spends 3% of time observing pedestrians, who are neither on nor crossing roads.

Direct Line car insurance spokesperson Simon Henrick said that for the first time it is known precisely where motorists focus their eyes while driving and the results are frightening.

"It is important that every time a driver gets behind the wheel that they concentrate for the whole journey, otherwise they risk injuring themselves and others," Henrick added.