Abstract: An occupant protection system (10) for a vehicle (12) includes a receiver (24) which is operative to receive a vehicle position signal (30) from a source (34) of positioning information. The receiver (24) also is operative to receive an object signal (38) indicative of the speed and position of an object adjacent the vehicle. The system (10) includes a vehicle speed sensor (90) which is operative to provide a vehicle speed signal (92) indicative of the speed of the vehicle. A controller (22) is electrically coupled with the receiver (24) and the vehicle speed sensor (90). The controller (22) is operative to provide an anticipatory crash event signal (99, 101, 103, 105, 107, 109 and/or 111) upon determining the occurrence of an anticipatory crash event condition in response to the vehicle position signal (30), the vehicle speed signal (92), and the object signal (38).