A control device with an acceleration sensor and an error control unit for motor vehicles is described in German Patent No. 39 30 302. This control device includes a first acceleration sensor for detecting longitudinal accelerations and a second acceleration sensor, for example, for detecting transverse accelerations. The control device also includes a facility for recording the signals from the acceleration sensors and for deriving a data value on the basis of the two signals. The data value is compared to a preset comparison value in a further facility and an error in one of the sensor signals is detected. The data value is derived, for example, by adding up the acceleration signals or determined as the root of the sum of the squares of the acceleration signals.
With this monitoring method, the signals of both acceleration sensors are always used directly for sensor monitoring. This means, first of all, that an acceleration sensor cannot be monitored only on the basis of its own signal. In addition, there is no indication of how to prepare the acceleration quantity prior to monitoring so that it will be largely independent of driving maneuvers performed with the vehicle. In other words, it is not possible to monitor the sensor independently of vehicle movement.