Around 18:00 yesterday afternoon, on "Justinijan Prvi" street in Drachevo, a Mercedes with Skopje plates hit an eight-year-old child crossing the road. The driver - a 53-year-old man from Skopje. The child was transferred by emergency vehicle to the "Majka Tereza" clinic. For now, the Interior Ministry is not releasing information about the child's condition.

In just the first quarter of this year, the country has already seen pedestrian road victims - yet no one talks about them as a system. Each is a single accident, "poor minor," "tragic case." The reality: pedestrian crossings in Skopje are marked, but often poorly lit, with broken traffic lights or no signal at all. Vehicles pass by schools and kindergartens at 60-70 in a zone where the limit is 50.

Drachevo is not the first place a child has been hit this year. And it will not be the last. The question that is asked the least: what is the City of Skopje doing in the neighbourhoods that are not in the central zone? How many speed bumps are there on "Justinijan Prvi"? When was the last serious traffic inspection on this street? Has there been one at all?

A 53-year-old driver. An 8-year-old child. Between them - a few metres of asphalt and the decision of one person in a single instant. When the event moves from the news ticker into a statistic, the child's parents are left alone with the consequences. And those consequences are permanent, regardless of how many "scene inspections" the police services run.