Two serious traffic cases in Prilep on the same day, both with severely injured people. One difference separates them: in the first the driver stayed at the scene because he could not leave it, in the second he fled.

At around 10:30, on the Prilep-Bitola road near the village of Topolčani, an Audi with Prilep plates flew off the carriageway. The driver, a 48-year-old man from Prilep with the initials T.N., sustained serious bodily injuries confirmed at the hospital in Prilep. During the inspection police established that he had been driving under the influence of alcohol - 1.74 promille in his blood.

That is not "one beer too many". That is almost four times the threshold above which a driver in Macedonia is criminally liable. At that concentration reaction times fall apart and the perception of speed and distance simply stops working. This time it was only his own car that left the road. Next time it might not be.

The same day, at 03:50 on Goce Delčev Boulevard in Prilep, a passenger car struck a 72-year-old pedestrian. The driver did not stop - he left the scene and drove on. The pedestrian, N.T., has serious bodily injuries confirmed at the General Hospital in Prilep. Police are taking measures to clear up the case.

Leaving an injured 72-year-old man on the asphalt and driving away is a separate matter from the crash itself. A collision can be a mistake. Fleeing is a decision, taken in a second, consciously.

The public prosecutor has been informed of the alcohol case and once the documentation is complete the appropriate charges will follow. What happens to the driver who fled remains to be seen - and how long that "clearing up of the case" is going to take.