A method and device for transferring a vehicle travelling with lateral guidance support into a driving state with a reduced risk of the consequences of a collision in the event of the driver experiencing an emergency, wherein the speed of the vehicle is higher than a predefined limiting speed. The method detects a hands-off situation of the driver and outputs a hands-off warning in a hands-off phase and carries out a warning escalation in an escalation phase if there is no reaction to the hands-off warning, wherein initiation of the escalation phase is prevented if a predefined blocking condition is satisfied.