Effects of hazard type and confidence level on hazard perception in young male drivers: an ERP study

Hazard perception refers to a driver’s ability to identify potential hazards on the road. Although studies have shown that overconfidence affects drivers’ ability to perceive hazards, the neural processing of hazard perception in overconfident drivers under different hazard types has rarely been investigated. A mixed experimental design of 2 (hazard type: hazards, no hazards) × 2 (driver group: overconfident driver, control group) was used. A total of 120 images (60 with hazards and 60 without hazards) were presented to 25 overconfident drivers and 25 drivers in the control group. Reaction time, response accuracy, P200 (200–250 ms), and N2 (280–330 ms) components were measured via event-related potential (ERP) technology. Response times of overconfident drivers are slower than those of the control group regardless of hazard types. The P200 latency of overconfident drivers was longer than that of their peers in hazard situations, while the P200 latency was similar between the two groups in no-hazard situations. Although a significant interaction was found on the N2 amplitude, no significant differences were found between the two groups in both hazard and no-hazard situations. Overconfident drivers have worse hazard perception performance in hazard situations with slower reaction times and greater P200 latencies than their peers. More importantly, P200 amplitude and N2 amplitude are sensitive to hazard types, while P200 amplitude and N2 latency can discriminate between driver groups. The findings help understand the negative impact of overconfidence on young drivers and contribute to the development and training of hazard perception tests.