Patent ID: 7102495

Claim:
A collision-prevention method for a motor vehicle having a control system, a drive system and a brake system, comprising: detecting an obstacle in front of the motor vehicle by an on-board position detecting system; calculating a collision probability from position data of the detected obstacle; and triggering, as a function of the collision probability, at least one response configured to prevent a collision, the at least one response including at least one preparatory measure configured to accelerate an implementation of a command to decelerate the motor vehicle in case the command is actually output, wherein said preparatory measure is an output of a command for priming the brake system of the vehicle, which causes a pressure buildup to take place in a component of the brake system such that a brake shoe is made to approach or touch at least one of a brake disk and a brake drum but does not have any significant decelerating effect on the vehicle; wherein, when the collision probability is substantially minimal, the control system implements at least one of an intervention in the drive system and an intervention in the brake system as part of a cruise control function having a hysteresis characteristic, and wherein the preparatory measure includes a reduction of a hysteresis interval when the collision probability is increasing.