The Greek government is preparing a ban on electric scooters for anyone under 18. The trigger was a series of serious accidents - including a fatal crash involving a 13-year-old and a major collision with a 12-year-old in Aspropyrgos. On top of the under-18 ban, the new package adds compulsory insurance for adults and steeper penalties for violators.

The numbers behind it are damning. The scooters sold on the open market routinely advertise speeds of 70 to 100 km/h, while the road limit is 25 km/h. That means every device sold is, by definition, a built-in legal violation - a problem no police department has the manpower to police minute by minute.

Greek traffic engineers are split. Some say a flat ban for minors is the fastest path to fewer casualties, especially after the recent deaths. Others argue the real fix is infrastructure - dedicated lanes for e-scooters, fines that actually bite, and education in schools. They all agree on one thing: the status quo isn't an answer.

For Skopje and other Macedonian cities, the issue is getting more urgent by the month. Rental scooters are no longer new, and accidents have been rising over the past two years. Without legislation, without mandatory insurance, without any police system for identifying riders - the problem will only grow. The Greek example can be either the model or the warning. It depends on whether Macedonia's parliament reads it before or after the first under-18 e-scooter death here. So far, nobody in the Sobranie is saying which side they're on.