A 75-year-old cyclist and a 38-year-old moped rider seriously injured in Skopje: on two wheels, every crash costs the most

Thursday, 3:40 pm, the junction of "Nikola Tesla" and "Ruđer Bošković" streets in Skopje. A Volkswagen driven by a 47-year-old woman from Skopje and a moped ridden by a 38-year-old man collide. The moped rider ends up at "St. Naum Ohridski" hospital with serious injuries.

Friday, 4:20 pm, "Ferid Bajram" Street. This time a moped ridden by a 60-year-old collides with a bicycle ridden by a 75-year-old man from Skopje. The cyclist is seriously injured, and the moped rider is hurt too. They were taken to the "Mother Teresa" Clinical Centre and to "St. Naum Ohridski".

Two crashes, neither fatal, which is exactly why both will pass as one more line in the police bulletin. Teams from the Skopje Interior Affairs Sector carried out the on-site investigation, and the circumstances are still being established. But the pattern is familiar to anyone who has ever got on a bicycle or a moped in this city: in a collision with sheet metal and asphalt, the one on two wheels always pays the highest price.

Two people seriously injured in two days are a reminder of how vulnerable anyone is who gets around this city on two wheels, with no metal around them. Is anyone at City Hall even counting how many cyclists and moped riders end up at "St. Naum" every year?