The Norwegian Public Roads Administration implemented the concept of Vision Zero in 1999. This is a vision of a road transport system that is safe for humans even if an accident occurs, also in the event of a tunnel fire. However, during the recent years, several tunnel fire incidents in Norway have demonstrated the potential for major accidents. In this paper, we discuss how tunnel safety designs are communicated by national agencies with governmental tasks. Our perspective is systems safety theory applied to Vision Zero principles. Even if the Vision Zero has been a political desired concept in Norway for almost twenty years, the Vision Zero is still inadequately communicated through the hierarchical levels. The lack of constraints is preventing the Vision Zero from being conceptualised and implemented, which may cause differences in the understanding of Vision Zero between the hierarchical levels in the tunnel system safety management.