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Three in five motorists are driven to distraction by nuisance passengers.

Naughty children, backseat drivers and nagging mothers-in-law are dangerous distractions, a new survey claims.

The study of Britain's most perilous passengers, who also include barking dogs, moaning partners and people who fiddle with controls, highlights their life-threatening effect.

Eight per cent of drivers who have been involved in an accident blamed a passenger.

One in four drivers took their eyes off the road - and one in three said that they had lost concentration due to a distracting passenger, Norwich Union found.

One in ten drivers admitted to shouting at nuisance passengers, with South Western drivers pinpointed as the most hot-tempered.

Drivers in the North West are most likely to take their eyes off the road because of a passenger, while Londoners are four times more likely to be distracted by a passenger than those in the South West.

Nigel Bartram, motor underwriting manager of Norwich Union said: "Many drivers don't realise the impact passengers can have on their driving skills and concentration.

"Not only can these distractions be a cause of annoyance, they also have the potential to cause a road accident.

"Our advice is if you are finding a passenger's behaviour distracting, find a safe spot and pull over and do not start driving until the situation is under control."

The top ten distractions:

1. Screaming children and crying babies
2. Children fighting
3. Backseat drivers
4. Barking and/or excited dogs
5. Passengers who constantly change the music, or fiddle with the temperature controls
6. Car sick passengers
7. A nagging mother-in-law
8. A moaning partner
9. Passengers trying to give you directions
10. Passengers who can't keep still