Vehicle sensing method for detecting a pedestrian impact

摘要

The collision of a vehicle (10) with a pedestrian is detected by the presence of a foreign object in a sensing zone (30/30') above the hood (14) of the vehicle (10) within a prescribed time of an initial impact with the bumper (14) of the vehicle (10). The initial impact is detected with an acceleration sensor (20) disposed in or near the front bumper (14) and the sensing zone (30/30') is defined by object detection sensors (22) disposed on the hood (14) or behind the windshield (28) of the vehicle (10). Vehicle speed is used to discriminate against events that occur while the vehicle is stationary or moving very slowly (42-44).