Abstract: The combination of an accelerometer and an evaluation circuit are disclosed for controlling a safety device in an automobile. The accelerometer includes a pair of electromagnetic circuits having a sensor coil and arranged at an angle other than 180.degree. relative to each other. A movable member is positioned within the angle and is deflected upon acceleration, due to inertia, to induce electrical voltages in the coils. The magnitude of the induced voltages are a function of the direction of acceleration. The evaluation circuit includes a directional discriminator connected to the coils to generate a signal to actuate the safety device in response to a voltage with a predetermined polarity occurring in at least one of the sensor coils, when the other voltage is zero or of the same polarity. The angle between the electromagnetic circuits is chosen to generate the first signal only in response to accelerations occurring within a desired directional sector.