Vehicle occupant protection system

In a vehicle occupant protection system comprising a seat (5) for seating a vehicle occupant (P) in a passenger compartment of a vehicle (1), and a seat belt (4) for restraining a vehicle occupant (P) seated in the seat (5), the seat belt (4) is pulled rearward by a power actuator (9) in an early stage of a vehicle crash to apply deceleration to the vehicle occupant (P) before the vehicle body (1) has started decelerating so that the vehicle occupant (P) is prevented from being subjected to a deceleration level which is higher than an unacceptable level of deceleration throughout the entire period of the vehicle crash.