16 drivers detained in 24 hours: 14 never passed a driving test, the oldest is 68

In the space of 24 hours, police detained 16 drivers at various locations across the country. Fourteen of them were driving without having passed a driving test. One was driving under an active ban, and one under the influence of alcohol.

Among those detained are two minors - a 17-year-old from Dolno Količani and a 16-year-old from the village of Novake near Tetovo. Two are from Kočani, two from Štip, three from Skopje, two from Veles, and one each from Prilep, Kumanovo, Studeničani, Novaci and Skudrinje. The youngest adult detained is 18. The oldest - 68.

Those 68 years deserve a sentence of their own. A man riding a moped without a licence at that age did not start yesterday. That is a man who has probably been driving like this for decades, and whom nobody stopped until now.

In Veles, police on Blagoj Gjorev Street stopped an unregistered moped ridden by a 20-year-old local. On the public prosecutor's instructions the moped was seized and the rider detained. The 68-year-old from Veles was detained the same day. Appropriate criminal charges for "reckless operation of a vehicle" will follow against all of them.

Sixteen in one day is a number that reads two ways. One is that the police are working. The other is that if a random check finds 16 unlicensed drivers in 24 hours, then the total number of people driving every day without meeting the legal requirements is incomparably higher - and they share the road with everyone else.

The Interior Ministry appeals to road users to respect the rules. The appeal is correct and entirely free. What costs something is enforcement - and that works only for as long as the operation lasts.