The Technical Working Committee of the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has declared the use of Toyota Voxy vehicles for commercial passenger transport unsafe and illegal, warning that their continued operation poses a serious threat to public safety on Ghanaian roads.
Presenting the committee’s final report in Accra on Wednesday, Dr Godwin Kafui Ayetor, Chairman of the committee and Senior Lecturer at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), stated that the Toyota Voxy was never designed for commercial use.
“The manufacturer informed us that the Toyota Voxy is a minivan designed for young middle-class families, not for commercial passenger use. In other words, it is not designed for high mileage and is intended for use on paved roads,” Dr Ayetor said.
He explained that the risks become even greater when the vehicles are deployed beyond their intended purpose, especially on rough terrain or for long-distance travel.
“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 added.
The committee raised serious concerns over widespread modifications, particularly the conversion of the vehicles from right-hand drive to left-hand drive. These modifications often include alterations to the suspension, raising the vehicle, and changing tyres.
“As part of the conversion, the suspension is altered and the vehicle is raised. The tyres are also changed. However, the tyres that come with the Toyota Voxy are passenger tyres, not designed for high payload or high mileage,” Dr Ayetor noted.
According to the report, such alterations, frequently carried out by unlicensed operators, compromise the structural integrity of the vehicles and increase the risk of mechanical failure.
Beyond the technical shortcomings, the committee identified a broader systemic regulatory breakdown that has allowed the proliferation of these vehicles in the commercial transport sector.
“We observed a systemic regulatory breakdown, which has led to the proliferation of these conversions. These vehicles are often unlawfully imported, improperly converted, and operated as commercial transport, posing serious safety risks,” Dr Ayetor stated.
He added that thousands of such vehicles have been allowed into the country, modified without standards, registered without proper testing, and operated commercially, sometimes even with private registration.
In its final determination, the committee concluded that the Toyota Voxy, as currently configured through unregulated right-hand drive to left-hand drive conversions and used for commercial passenger transport beyond its design specifications, presents an unacceptable risk to road safety in Ghana.
The committee has recommended strict enforcement of existing regulations, including a ban on the importation of right-hand drive vehicles, tighter controls on vehicle conversions, an immediate halt to the registration of such vehicles for commercial use, and limiting any permitted operations to intra-city routes only.