A video showing a Toyota Vitz trapped in front of a truck on the Ofankor Highway has gone viral this week, carrying with it a dramatic story that police say is false.

Since Monday, 13th July, 2026, social media users have hailed the Vitz driver as a hero who sacrificed his car to stop a runaway truck whose brakes had allegedly failed, preventing it from crashing into other motorists and pedestrians.

One widely shared post claimed the driver had deliberately positioned his vehicle in front of the truck to avert a major accident. Another described him as “quick-witted” and praised him for steering into the truck’s path.

But when JoyNews’ Emmanuel Dzivenu visited the accident scene and later traced both vehicles and drivers to the Achimota–Mile 7 District Police MTTD station, a sharply different account emerged.

Preliminary police investigations indicate that the Vitz driver’s alleged reckless manoeuvre caused the collision, while the truck driver may have prevented it from becoming fatal.

What the eyewitness saw

Two long, dark tyre marks remained visible across the highway when JoyNews arrived at the scene.

Akwasi, a spare-parts dealer who witnessed the collision, said the marks were left by the truck as its driver struggled to stop.

“The truck was descending and the driver was applying the brakes gradually. The Vitz driver tried to overtake by manoeuvring between the trucks, and that was when the accident happened. The truck driver continued braking, but the truck dragged the Vitz from up there to this point. Those are the tyre marks you can see on the road,” he said.

Police officers later arrived and, with assistance from people at the scene, separated the vehicles and transported them to the station.

No injuries were recorded.

Police reject brake-failure claim

Both vehicles have been impounded at the Achimota–Mile 7 District Police MTTD station as investigations continue.

The station’s MTTD Commander, ASP Abubakar Bawa, said preliminary questioning of the drivers did not support claims that the truck had suffered brake failure.

According to him, the truck driver said the Vitz was moving alongside the truck before suddenly drifting across its path.

“He managed to apply both the foot brake and handbrake to bring the truck to a stop,” ASP Bawa said.

When questioned, the Vitz driver reportedly told police that he did not know what had caused his vehicle to drift across the road.

“The claim that the truck suffered brake failure and caused the accident is not true. From our preliminary investigations, the accident resulted from reckless driving by the Vitz driver,” the district police MTTD commander revealed.

The commander said the Vitz driver had been driving for about two months and was using a temporary licence at the time of the collision.

Police are preparing a docket for him to be arraigned.

'I was trying to prevent a fatality'

The truck driver, who was travelling from Kumasi to Tema, said he was driving in the inner lane, with another vehicle ahead in the outer lane, when the Vitz approached from behind.

“I was in the inner lane, while another vehicle ahead of me was in the outer lane,” he said.

“Before I realised what was happening, the Vitz came from behind and tried to manoeuvre between my truck and the vehicle ahead.”

He said the Vitz’s rear tyre became caught on the truck’s bumper, causing the smaller vehicle to turn horizontally across the road.

“I carefully applied both the foot brake and the handbrake to prevent the situation from becoming fatal. It is completely untrue that my brakes failed and that the Vitz driver was trying to help me. I was rather doing everything possible to prevent the loss of life,” he said.

The driver said avoiding a fatal crash remained his priority, even at the risk of damaging the truck.

“Even if my tyres had burst in the process, my priority was to avoid a fatality, and that informed every decision I made that day,” he added.

Driver faces mounting demurrage costs

Although no one was injured, the incident has left the truck driver facing financial losses.

The truck and its container remain at the police station, preventing him from returning the container to the port within the required period.

He said he is being charged GH¢1,000 for each day of delay, with the accumulated demurrage approaching GH¢5,000.

Vitz driver declines interview

The Vitz driver, Bashiru Ridwanu Mohammed, declined an on-camera interview when JoyNews approached him at the police station.

During an off-camera interaction at the MTTD Commander's office, however, he acknowledged wrongdoing and said he had seen the viral posts celebrating him as a hero.

He indicated that he intended to publish his own account of the incident on social media.

The incident shows how quickly an unverified account can harden into public belief: the Vitz driver was celebrated as a hero, while the truck driver who may have prevented a fatal crash was wrongly blamed.