Occupant protective system

Claim 1

An occupant protective system for an automotive vehicle having a driver's seat and an assistant driver's seat, comprising: a first air bag provided in front of said driver's seat of said vehicle; a second air bag provided in front of said assistant driver's seat; deceleration detecting means for detecting a magnitude of deceleration exerted on said vehicle; occupant detecting means for detecting whether or not there is an occupant seated on said assistant driver's seat; and actuator means responsive to an output from said occupant detecting means for causing at least said first air bag to be inflated to absorb shock, when said magnitude of deceleration detected by said deceleration detecting means exceeds a predetermined value, wherein said actuator means comprises: comparison means for comparing said magnitude of deceleration detected by said deceleration detecting means with first and second threshold values forming said predetermined value, said second threshold value being greater than said first threshold value; and selecting means responsive to outputs from said comparison means which compares said detected deceleration magnitude with said predetermined value and responsive to said occupant detecting means for causing both of said first and second air bags to be inflated even when no occupant is seated on said assistant driver's seat, if said magnitude of deceleration detected exceeds said second threshold value, and for causing said first air bag alone to be inflated when no occupant is seated on said assistant driver's seat, if said magnitude of deceleration detected exceeds said first threshold value and does not exceed said second threshold value.