A vehicle occupant safety system includes a crash severity determination
system and one or more vehicle occupant safety devices. The crash severity
determination system includes at least one crash sensor which generates a
crash signal based upon the severity of the crash. A continuously variable
crash severity output signal is generated based upon the crash signal from
the crash sensor. Generally, for a given crash type, the crash severity
signal is inversely proportional to the amount of time between the
beginning of the crash and when the crash signal crosses a threshold. This
continuously variable crash severity signal is sent to the vehicle
occupant safety devices, which activate proportionally to the crash
severity signal.
