METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING AN ACTUATABLE PROTECTION DEVICE WITH ENHANCED ROLLOVER DISCRIMINATION

A method for controlling the actuation of an actuatable restraint to help protect a vehicle occupant in response to a rollover event is implemented in a controller of a vehicle safety system that includes the actuatable restraint. To implement the method, the controller is configured to execute a roll discrimination metric that discriminates the occurrence of a ramp rollover event or an embankment rollover event in response to a vehicle roll rate (R_RATE) having a magnitude that exceeds a predetermined threshold roll rate (R_RATE). The controller is also configured to execute a switching metric that is operative to reduce the predetermined threshold roll rate (R_RATE) in response to a vehicle pitch rate (P_RATE) having a magnitude that exceeds a predetermined threshold pitch rate (P_RATE).