Toyota Voxy has been found to create serious road safety risks in Ghana due to its unsuitable vehicle design, unsafe conversions, regulatory gaps, and economic pressures on drivers.
According to a report by the Technical Working Team set up by the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) to ascertain the safety of the vehicle, its use in the country requires urgent regulatory and enforcement action.
Excerpts of the findings of the report published by the Authority on Friday indicated that the vehicle was made only as a right-hand drive model for Japan, and left-hand drive conversions are not approved for safety reasons.
The team also found that all Toyota Voxy vehicles in Ghana have been converted from right-hand to left-hand drive through major structural modifications, which compromise their safety and integrity.
The conversions, it found, are carried out with little regulatory oversight and by uncertified workshops lacking formal standards, posing major safety risks to passengers and other road users.
Another point to note is that the Toyota Voxy was designed as a family minivan, not for commercial passenger use, and its low ground clearance makes it unsuitable for long-distance or varied road conditions.
Field investigations showed that, despite design limitations, Toyota Voxy vehicles are widely used commercially in Ghana, including privately registered cars operating as passenger transport.
The Working Group further found major regulatory gaps, including the import of right-hand drive vehicles against legal provisions and the registration of converted vehicles without the required enhanced technical inspections.
“Toyota Voxy crashes form a small share of national data, but some regions show disproportionately high involvement, highlighting localised safety risks,” it said, noting that stakeholder consultations revealed that unrealistic revenue targets push drivers to speed and adopt unsafe practices, worsened by the vehicles’ lower passenger capacity.
Click to read more:
Source:
opemsuo.com