Abandoned vehicles to be auctioned under new towing rules-Kwame Kodua

Vehicle owners who leave broken-down vehicles on the road risk losing them under new road traffic regulations, the National Road Safety Authority has warned.

The Authority says abandoned vehicles that are not promptly removed may be towed, kept at a storage facility and eventually auctioned if their owners fail to reclaim them.

The warning follows new requirements under the Road Traffic Regulations, 2026, L.I. 2519, and the Road Traffic Amendment Act, 2025.

Director of Registration, Inspection and Compliance at the NRSA, Kwame Koduah Attuahene, said every vehicle owner is now expected to either subscribe to a towing service or have an insurance policy that includes towing cover.

“The law is that every vehicle owner will be required to subscribe to a towing service company or buy an insurance policy that has a towing service tied to it,” he said.

Mr Attuahene explained that the new regime no longer allows motorists to leave broken-down vehicles on the road for a grace period before arranging for removal.

Under the previous arrangement, he said, motorists were given between 30 minutes and one hour after a breakdown.

That has changed.

“Once your vehicle breaks down, the law now requires that you immediately have it towed. In the old law, it gave you a 30-minute or one-hour grace period, but now the law is that as soon as you break down, you must have your vehicle towed,” he said.

He was speaking at a national sensitisation programme on the new road traffic law and regulations.

Under the rules, a motorist whose vehicle breaks down must first place an advance warning triangle to alert other road users.

The owner must then contact the towing service provider.

The towing company is expected to notify the police or the NRSA and arrange for the disabled vehicle to be moved to an approved storage facility.

Once the vehicle is taken to the facility, the owner will have an initial period of up to seven days to reclaim it.

If the owner fails to do so, further steps may be taken toward a judicial auction.

Mr Attuahene said a seven-day notice will be given before any sale is carried out.

“After 21 days, you will be auctioned. You have seven days’ notice before the sale. And where the sale is unsuccessful, the state will confiscate the vehicle and possibly scrap it,” he said.

The NRSA says the policy is meant to stop broken-down and crashed vehicles from remaining on roads for long periods.

Such vehicles, the Authority noted, often create hazards for other motorists and contribute to road crashes.

Mr Attuahene said the basic requirement is for motorists to make prior arrangements for towing before they are caught in an emergency.

“All of this is to ensure that we comply with the basic rule, which is that you must either subscribe or get a policy,” he said.