Patent ID: 7024293

Claim:
A collision determination system for detecting a collision of a vehicle with an object and outputting an actuating signal to collision mitigating devices, said system comprising: a plurality of acceleration sensors for mounting to a front portion of said vehicle to detect accelerations of movement of said front portion in the vehicle longitudinal direction; an actuation permitting means for outputting an actuation permitting signal for a fixed time period when one of said acceleration sensors detects an acceleration equal to or more than a set value within a set time after another acceleration sensor detects an acceleration equal to or more than the set value, said actuation permitting means including a plurality of timers, each of said timers being associated with a respective one of the acceleration sensors, said each of said timers holding for the set time a signal representing the acceleration detected by the associated acceleration sensor which is equal to or more than the set value; a collision detecting means for outputting a collision detection signal when determining that a collision with a given object occurs based on acceleration detected by at least one of said acceleration sensors; and an actuating signal outputting means for outputting an actuating signal to said collision mitigating devices when receiving both an actuation permitting signal from said actuation permitting means and a collision detection signal from said collision detecting means.