A shocking 18% of time behind the wheel is not spent watching the road. This is the finding of a new driver habits study conducted by Direct Line Car Insurance.

When they are not watching the road, it seems drivers are looking at the sky, scenery, bill boards or maybe attractive pedestrians and are on average taking their eyes off the road every nine seconds. The new study, which utilises the latest eye-tracking technology to record drivers’ eye movements, also found motorist’s sat nav devices were the biggest distraction. The stats show that drivers with a sat nav have their eyes fixed on this screen for some 12% of their total journey time, or four times as long as the average driver spends checking their mirrors.

Simon Henrick, spokesperson for Direct Line car insurance said, ‘For the first time we know exactly where people focus their eyes when driving and the results are frightening. Even when drivers appear to be watching the road, by tracking movements in the cornea, we now know they are often watching clouds or shop window displays. 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.’