58 drivers lose their licences in a single night: 61 of 772 tested were driving with alcohol

Six hours of checks, from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. on the night of 17 to 18 October, on roads across the whole country. The Interior Ministry breathalysed 772 drivers, and in 61 of them the device showed alcohol. That is roughly one in every thirteen drivers stopped.

Fourteen drivers were over 1.50 per mille and will face the criminal charge of "reckless driving of a motor vehicle". 58 drivers had their licences taken away, and under Article 300-b of the Criminal Code two vehicles were confiscated as well. The operation also recorded another 125 offences of other kinds.

In parallel, the Mobile Traffic Safety Unit ran a separate check in Ilinden, Gazi Baba and Kisela Voda: eight drivers under the influence, three of them detained for being over 1.50 per mille, plus one more driving without a licence. And on 16 October, on the A2 highway, police in Kumanovo stopped a 54-year-old driver from Klečovce who blew 2.30 per mille.

The numbers look good in a police press release. But they also say something else: the moment police set up on the road, the drunk drivers are there, and not just a few of them. How many are out there on the nights when there is no operation?

The ministry says the targeted checks will continue. The penalty is known, the risk is known, and 61 drivers still got behind the wheel with alcohol in their blood. Is the problem the law - or how rarely anyone expects to be stopped?