The Technical Working Committee of the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) has declared the use of Toyota Voxy vehicles for commercial transport illegal, warning that their continued operation poses a significant threat to public safety.
Presenting the committee’s final report in Accra on Wednesday, April 8, Chairman Godwin Kafui Ayetor said the vehicles were never designed for commercial passenger use and are ill-suited to Ghana’s road conditions.
“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,” he said.
He explained that the risks are heightened when the vehicles are used beyond their intended purpose, particularly 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,
The committee also raised concerns over widespread modifications carried out on the vehicles, especially during the conversion from right-hand drive to left-hand drive.
“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, often carried out by unlicensed operators, compromise the structural integrity of the vehicles and increase the risk of mechanical failure.
Beyond the technical issues, the committee identified deeper regulatory failures that have enabled the proliferation of these vehicles in the commercial transport space.
“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,” he stated.
He further warned that the scale of the problem is significant.
“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 final assessment, the committee concluded that the continued use of the Toyota Voxy in its current form is unsafe.
“In our final determination, the Technical Working Group concludes 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.”
The committee has recommended stricter enforcement of existing regulations, including a ban on the importation of right-hand drive vehicles, tighter controls on conversions, and an immediate halt to the registration of such vehicles for commercial use.
