Vehicle safety apparatus with selective energy management

摘要

A vehicle safety apparatus (10) has a seat belt system (16) with webbing (24) for restraining a vehicle occupant (88). A sensor (116) detects the occurrence of a condition indicative of a vehicle collision. A payout device (36) enables pay out of the webbing (24) in response to force applied to the webbing by the vehicle occupant (88). The payout device (36) is enabled to function in response to the signal. During payout of the webbing (24), energy is absorbed. In one embodiment, energy is absorbed by deforming a deformable material (104).