Patent ID: 8292324

Claim:
A side impact crash sensor that operates in conjunction with displacement of an outer panel of a vehicle door in the event of a side impact crash, the side impact crash sensor being disposed in a sectioned region bounded by the door outer panel and an door inner panel of the vehicle door, comprising: a sensor housing coupled to a vehicle door member in the sectioned region; a pendulum that is allowed to rotate around a rotating shaft secured to the sensor housing in the event of a side impact crash, the pendulum being conductive and being housed in a housing space of the sensor housing; and a detecting section for detecting a rotation operation mode of the pendulum on the basis of a change in impedance of a conductive coil which occurs in conjunction with a rotation operation of the pendulum, the detecting section having the conductive coil energized by an alternating current secured to the sensor housing so as to be opposed in the housing space to a plane in which the pendulum rotates.