Long-term learning effects of structured risk communication targeting safe behaviour in road tunnels

Communicating safe behaviour to road tunnel users is a challenging task because it involves learning that must persist over time. But what learning is persistent over time? This question generated the motivation for a longitudinal study addressing long-term learning effects of structured risk communication, designed to create stimuli for a desired behavioural response among road users in the event of a fire in road tunnels. The study is the second part of a mixed methods research approach and a prolongation of a randomised controlled trial that showed strong positive effects of structured risk communication on participants' evacuation behaviour in a virtual reality driving simulator. One and two years after the experiment, qualitative research interviews were designed and conducted with the participants (first interview n = 65, second interview n = 60). The interview guides were designed as scenarios that tested and challenged the respondents' competence in tunnel driving. The study is exploratory in search for patterns, variation, interesting perspectives and development features related to long-term learning. Results from the study show tendencies of competence development. First, reflection on decision-making and action was identified among those respondents who were emotionally engaged in the context. Second, context-specific challenges created stimuli for mental simulation on the effect of different action choices among respondents who expressed commitment to the context. Third, over time, the content of structured risk communication provided stimuli that made the respondents more aware of and committed to the meaning of safe behaviour in tunnels. The design of this study should be further tested, because tunnel users' competence is an important aspect for better understanding systems safety as part of risk assessments.