A vehicle passenger restraining system comprises a plurality of passenger restraining devices, upper and lower deformation detecting devices, and a passenger restraining device operating unit. The upper deformation detecting device is disposed in a generally central upper end of a first lateral side of a cabin to output one of a first signal indicative of a first load input from a first direction and a second signal indicative of a second load input from a second direction. The lower deformation detecting device is disposed in a generally central lower end of the first lateral side to output a third signal indicative of a third load input from a third direction. The passenger restraining device operating unit is configured to determine a load input characteristic based on the first, second and third signals to operate at least one of the passenger restraining devices in accordance with the load input characteristic.