An occupant protection apparatus includes a seatbelt device and airbag device. The seatbelt device is capable of restraining an occupant to be seated on a seat in a vehicle. The airbag device includes an airbag casing to be disposed on or above a shoulder of the occupant. The seatbelt device includes a belt extendable through an insertion hole of the airbag casing. A fastening member is disposed in the insertion hole. The fastening member is configured to fasten the belt to the airbag casing when the belt is pulled out in a crash of the vehicle.

A system includes a sensor, a controller, and a seatbelt retractor. The controller is programmed to receive a signal from the sensor indicating detection of a vehicle front oblique impact. The seatbelt retractor includes a load limiting mechanism selectively releasable from a high load mode to a low load mode. The controller is programmed to release the load limiting mechanism from the high load mode to the low load mode at a predetermined time in response to a signal from the sensor indicating a vehicle front oblique impact.

A variable force limiter control system for a vehicle includes a variable force limiter mechanism, a relative speed sensor, an acceleration sensor and an electronic control unit. The variable force limiter mechanism is configured to change a force limiter load. The relative speed sensor is configured to detect a relative speed of the vehicle with respect to a collision object before a collision. The acceleration sensor is configured to detect an acceleration of the vehicle. The electronic control unit is configured to predict a severity of a collision on the basis of at least the relative speed. The electronic control unit is configured to control the force limiter load on the basis of both the predicted severity and the acceleration in an initial stage of the collision of the vehicle.

A method for controlling restraint devices of a motor vehicle includes measuring a movement variable of the motor vehicle, triggering a first restraint device on the basis of a first predefined threshold value for the measured movement variable being exceeded, triggering a second restraint device on the basis of a second predefined threshold value for the measured movement variable being exceeded, and activating a first device influencing the restraining force of the first restraint device and a second device influencing the restraining force of the second restraint device on the basis of the first predefined threshold value and/or the second predefined threshold value being exceeded.

A seatbelt assembly includes webbing elongated along a length, a clip slidable along the length of the webbing, an indicator extending along the length of the webbing, and a sensor coupled to the clip and sensitive to the indicator. The seatbelt assembly measures a length of a lap band stretched across an occupant. Safety features may be tailored to the body type of the occupant.

A system and method for optimizing various vehicle safety systems, such as airbags and seat belt load tensioning limiters, for a particular occupant of a vehicle seat, such as the vehicle driver or passenger, based on the weight of the occupant and the fore-aft position of the seat. The method senses the mass of the occupant and the position of the seat and classifies the combination of the mass and position. The method then determines the optimized setting of the safety systems for that combination classification, and automatically sets the safety systems to that setting. The method can also determine the optimized setting of the safety systems based on whether the occupant is wearing a seat belt.