Method for assisting a driver of a vehicle in driving the vehicle, comprising the steps of: - sensing an environment of the vehicle by sensors mounted on the vehicle (S1); - determining parameters of the vehicle and/or objects in the environment of the vehicle on the basis of the sensor outputs (S2), wherein the determined parameters include a vehicle position; - classifying an encountered traffic situation on the basis of the determined parameters; and - outputting driver information and/or actuating vehicle operators on the basis of the classified traffic situation (S6); further characterized in - classifying the encountered traffic situation by comparing the determined parameters with parameters of prototypical traffic situations that are stored in a database (S3), wherein each of the prototypical traffic situations is related to one specific road configuration pattern and at least a localized constellation of road elements, of the vehicle and of other traffic participants; - extracting, from the database, risk information associated with the encountered traffic situation from the classification and the respective prototypical traffic situations (S4), wherein the risk information associated with the prototypical traffic situations includes risk information on most frequent accident types for the respective prototypical traffic situation and the vehicle position, and statistics related to a quantification of an expected risk for the respective prototypical traffic situation; and - calculating an expected risk for the encountered traffic situation on the basis of the extracted risk information (S5); and - outputting driver information and/or actuating vehicle operators on the basis of the calculated expected risk in addition to the classified traffic situation (S6). - sensing an environment of the vehicle by sensors mounted on the vehicle (S1); - determining parameters of the vehicle and/or objects in the environment of the vehicle on the basis of the sensor outputs (S2), wherein the determined parameters include a vehicle position; - classifying an encountered traffic situation on the basis of the determined parameters; and - outputting driver information and/or actuating vehicle operators on the basis of the classified traffic situation (S6); further - classifying the encountered traffic situation by comparing the determined parameters with parameters of prototypical traffic situations that are stored in a database (S3), wherein each of the prototypical traffic situations is related to one specific road configuration pattern and at least a localized constellation of road elements, of the vehicle and of other traffic participants; - extracting, from the database, risk information associated with the encountered traffic situation from the classification and the respective prototypical traffic situations (S4), wherein the risk information associated with the prototypical traffic situations includes risk information on most frequent accident types for the respective prototypical traffic situation and the vehicle position, and statistics related to a quantification of an expected risk for the respective prototypical traffic situation; and - calculating an expected risk for the encountered traffic situation on the basis of the extracted risk information (S5); and - outputting driver information and/or actuating vehicle operators on the basis of the calculated expected risk in addition to the classified traffic situation (S6). <EOS>