A crash detection system (20) includes two sensors (30 and 32) with complementary performance characteristics, preferably a ball-in-tube sensor (32) and an accelerometer (30). A controller (28) evaluates the signals from both sensors (30 and 32) to determine whether an airbag should be activated, when the airbag should be activated and whether multiple stages of the airbag should be activated. The controller (28) activates an airbag only if both sensors (30 and 32) generate fire signals. The controller (28) generates an airbag activation signal based upon crash type and the sum of the times from the beginning of the crash for both sensors (30 and 32) to generate fire signals.
