The Technical Working Committee of the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) is urging the government to strictly enforce existing laws that prohibit the importation of right-hand drive vehicles into the country, following what it describes as dangerous and unlawful conversions of Toyota Voxy vehicles for commercial use.
The call was made on Wednesday afternoon when the Committee presented its final investigative report to the Director-General of the Authority.
Chairman of the Committee and Senior Lecturer at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at KNUST, Dr Godwin Kafui Ayetor, warned that the widespread conversion of Toyota Voxy vehicles from right-hand drive to left-hand drive posed a serious and growing threat to public safety.
According to him, many of the conversions are carried out by uncertified practitioners, resulting in structural defects that make the vehicles unsafe for commercial transport.
“So, 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,” Dr Ayetor said.
He added that the problem is worsened by long-standing regulatory gaps that have allowed thousands of unlawfully imported vehicles to enter the country without proper checks.
The Committee also highlighted concerns that some of these converted vehicles are being registered and used commercially despite being classified as private vehicles.
Dr Ayetor explained that the group is recommending several urgent measures, including tighter border enforcement to stop right-hand drive vehicles from entering the country, and stricter checks at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) to prevent converted vehicles from being registered for commercial use.
As part of its proposals, the Committee also wants commercial Toyota Voxy operations limited strictly to intra-city transport, alongside the issuance of an immediate public advisory on the dangers associated with right-hand drive conversions.
The NRSA is expected to study the recommendations as part of broader national efforts to reduce road crashes and strengthen compliance within the commercial transport sector.
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