Abstract: An environment monitor has a plurality of sensors for detecting predetermined safety risks associated with a plurality of potential destination regions around a vehicle as the vehicle moves over a roadway. The environment monitor selects one of the potential destination regions having a substantially lowest safety risk as a target area. A path determination unit assembles a plurality of plausible paths between the vehicle and the target area, monitors predetermined safety risks associated with the plurality of plausible paths, and selects one of the plausible paths having a substantially lowest safety risk as a target path. An impact detector detects an impact between the vehicle and another object. A stability control is configured to autonomously steer the vehicle onto the target path when the impact is detected.

Abstract: An environment monitor has a plurality of sensors for detecting predetermined safety risks associated with a plurality of potential destination regions around a vehicle as the vehicle moves over a roadway. The environment monitor selects one of the potential destination regions having a substantially lowest safety risk as a target area. A path determination unit assembles a plurality of plausible paths between the vehicle and the target area, monitors predetermined safety risks associated with the plurality of plausible paths, and selects one of the plausible paths having a substantially lowest safety risk as a target path. An impact detector detects an impact between the vehicle and another object. A stability control is configured to autonomously steer the vehicle onto the target path when the impact is detected.

Abstract: A transportation vehicle has an inflatable restraint mounted proximate to a passenger seating location which is configured to inflate in an appropriate manner to interact with a passenger during an impact. The inflatable restraint is of a type not inflated in response to a frontal impact when the passenger seating location is empty. For enhanced protection of a driver, a restraint controller detects a far side impact that initiates at the side of the vehicle opposite from the driver, detects that the passenger seating location is empty, and causes inflation of the inflatable restraint to interact with the driver in response to the far side impact and the passenger seating location being empty.

Abstract: A seat belt assembly in a vehicle for restraining an occupant includes a lap-shoulder belt assembly and an lap-shoulder belt extender assembly. The lap-shoulder belt includes a shoulder belt having an upper end mounted to the vehicle and a lap belt having a first end mounted to the vehicle and a second end joined to the lower end of the shoulder belt to form a lap-shoulder belt junction. The extender belt includes an extender shoulder belt and an extender lap belt. The extender shoulder belt has an upper extender end adjustably coupled to the shoulder belt. The extender lap belt has a first lap extender end releasably connected to the lap-shoulder belt junction and a second lap extender end connected to a lower extender end of the extender shoulder belt to form an extender junction. The extender junction is releasably connected to the vehicle at the normal location of the lap-shoulder belt junction.