Patent ID: 8892312

Claim:
A side collision determination apparatus for a vehicle that includes side surfaces including a right side surface and a left side surface, the side collision determination apparatus comprising: a first acceleration sensor mounted on a one of the right and left side surfaces, and a second acceleration sensor mounted on the other of the right and left side surfaces, each of the first and second acceleration sensors being configured to detect acceleration; and a determination unit configured to determine whether a collision has occurred adjacent to one of the first and second acceleration sensors by comparing an output from at least one of the first and second acceleration sensors with one or more threshold values, the determination unit configured to perform the determination based on the acceleration detected by one of the first and second acceleration sensors mounted on a non-collision side when the part of the side surface at which the collision has occurred is adjacent to a position where the one of the first and second acceleration sensors is mounted, and the determination unit configured to perform the determination based on the acceleration detected by the other of the first and second acceleration sensors mounted on a collision-side when the part of the side surface at which the collision has occurred is apart from the position where the one of the first and second acceleration sensors is mounted, wherein the one or more threshold values include a first value, and when one of the first and second acceleration sensors detects acceleration being greater than the first value, the determination unit determines that the part of the side surface at which the collision has been occurred is adjacent to the position where the other of the first and second acceleration sensors is mounted and performs the determination based on the acceleration detected by the one of the first and second acceleration sensors.