asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he can give an estimate of the approximate cost of treating victims of road accidents and the approximate cost of treating those who were injured when travelling by car.

The estimated cost of treating victims of road accidents in England and Wales was between £50 million and £55 million in the 1977–78 financial year. Department of Transport statistics show about 40 per cent. of seriously injured casualties travelling by car, but there is no information on which to base an estimate of the cost of treating those patients.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what proportion of hospital beds is occupied by the victims of road accidents on average; and what proportion of these were occupied by patients who had been travelling in cars.

During 1975, the latest year for which figures are available, it is estimated that 1·4 per cent. of hospital beds in England and Wales, other than those in psychiatric hospitals, were occupied by victims of road accidents. Information is not available on the proportion of these patients who had been travelling in cars.