Method for autonomously operating a vehicle driving on a road in a driving direction, the method comprising: capturing environmental data of a front area by a front sensor, the front area lying in front of the vehicle with respect to the driving direction, the front sensor being mounted to the vehicle at a front sensor mounting position with a predefined orientation of an axis of vision of the front sensor; capturing environmental data of a rear area by a rear sensor, the rear area lying behind the vehicle with respect to the driving direction, the rear sensor being mounted to the vehicle at a rear sensor mounting position with a predefined orientation of an axis of vision of the rear sensor; capturing a position of the vehicle by a position sensor; assigning the position of the vehicle to a location in a topographic map containing slope information of the road; retrieving slope information from the topographic map for a predetermined range in front of and behind of the location of the vehicle; determining a maximum detection distance (D_max) of the front sensor and the rear sensor for detecting an object having a specific vertical height based on the slope information, the front and rear sensor positions, and a vertical opening angle (α31; α32) of a field of view (V31; V32) of the front sensor and the rear sensor relative to the front and rear sensors' axes of vision (A31; A32); determining a minimum detection distance (D_min) of the front sensor and the rear sensor required for a planned driving maneuver or a current driving state of the vehicle; and actuating the vehicle such that the required minimum detection distance (D_min) is equal or smaller than the maximum detection distance (D_max) of the front and rear sensors (31; 32). capturing environmental data of a front area by a front sensor, the front area lying in front of the vehicle with respect to the driving direction, the front sensor being mounted to the vehicle at a front sensor mounting position with a predefined orientation of an axis of vision of the front sensor; capturing environmental data of a rear area by a rear sensor, the rear area lying behind the vehicle with respect to the driving direction, the rear sensor being mounted to the vehicle at a rear sensor mounting position with a predefined orientation of an axis of vision of the rear sensor; capturing a position of the vehicle by a position sensor; assigning the position of the vehicle to a location in a topographic map containing slope information of the road; retrieving slope information from the topographic map for a predetermined range in front of and behind of the location of the vehicle; determining a maximum detection distance (D_max) of the front sensor and the rear sensor for detecting an object having a specific vertical height based on the slope information, the front and rear sensor positions, and a vertical opening angle (α31; α32) of a field of view (V31; V32) of the front sensor and the rear sensor relative to the front and rear sensors' axes of vision (A31; A32); determining a minimum detection distance (D_min) of the front sensor and the rear sensor required for a planned driving maneuver or a current driving state of the vehicle; and actuating the vehicle such that the required minimum detection distance (D_min) is equal or smaller than the maximum detection distance (D_max) of the front and rear sensors (31; 32).