The Technical Working Committee of the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has declared the use of Toyota Voxy vehicles for commercial passenger transport illegal, citing serious safety risks associated with their design and the widespread unregulated modifications taking place in Ghana. The directive is based on a detailed investigation into the increasing use of these minivans as public transport vehicles, particularly after they have been converted from right-hand drive to left-hand drive. When Chairman Godwin Kafui Ayetor delivered the committee’s final report on Wednesday, April 8, in Accra, he said it was a major threat to passenger safety and called for immediate regulatory intervention.
He went on to say that the Toyota Voxy’s design was developed for private family use without being built to withstand the demands of commercial transport, especially on Ghanaian roads. “The manufacturer informed us that the Toyota Voxy is a minivan designed for young middle-class families, not for commercial passenger use. Simply put, it is not designed for high mileage and is intended for use on paved roads,” he said. The vehicle’s limitations become even more hazardous when used for long-distance journeys or on rough terrain, Dr Ayetor said, adding that there are more suitable vehicles for that purpose. “Once off-road conditions come into play, the recommendation is to use vehicles such as the Toyota Hiace, which are specifically built for commercial applications,” he said.
The committee reported that many of the Voxy vehicles in commercial use have undergone extensive and often unauthorised structural modifications, including changes to the suspension system and tyres. Such changes, the report concluded, undermine the vehicle’s structural integrity and markedly raise the risk of mechanical failure. “The suspension gets changed and the vehicle raised as part of the conversion. The tyres are also changed. However, the tyres that come with the Toyota Voxy are passenger tyres, not built to carry heavy payload or operate over long distances,” Dr Ayetor explained.
They also pointed to a wider breakdown in regulation which has allowed these vehicles to be imported, modified and operated commercially without any form of supervision. “We observed a systemic regulatory breakdown, which has led to the massive proliferation of these conversions. These vehicles are frequently unlawfully imported, improperly converted and operated as commercial transport, creating serious safety hazards,” he said. Dr Ayetor said thousands of such vehicles may already be driving around the country without adequate safety records and without meeting basic safety standards. “We have allowed thousands of unlawfully imported vehicles to enter the country, be modified without standards by uncertified practitioners, registered without proper testing and inspection, and operated commercially despite private registration in some cases,” he said. In its decision, the committee declared the continuing use of the Toyota Voxy today for commercial passenger transport is an unacceptably dangerous risk to road safety in Ghana.
“The final determination of the Technical Working Group is that the Toyota Voxy vehicle, as currently configured through unregulated right-hand drive to left-hand drive conversion and deployed for commercial passenger transport beyond its design specifications, presents an unacceptable risk to road safety in Ghana.” It has accordingly recommended that prevailing laws be strictly enforced, such as an outright ban on the importation of right-hand drive vehicles, more robust controls on the conversion of vehicles, and a stop to any registration of such vehicles for commercial use. It also recommended an increased approach to public education and regulatory reforms aimed at curbing the abuse of private vehicles for passenger transportation. The NRSA would then act on these recommendations in accordance with its broader attempts to improve road safety and reduce accidents as a result of vehicle defects or regulatory non-compliance.
Editor:
Obiri-Yeboah
