Abstract: A method and a device for triggering and implementing a deceleration of a vehicle to avoid a collision are suggested, in which, using a device for adaptive cruise control, objects in the sensor detection range are detected and measured variables are determined for each detected object, the detected objects are assigned to various object classes on the basis of the determined, associated measured variables, and the movement trajectories of the objects are predicted on the basis of the assignment of the detected objects to the particular class. Furthermore, a collision risk and an injury risk are determined from these predicted movement trajectories of the objects and the associated, detected object classes and, in the event of the existence of preselected combinations of collision risks and injury risks, the deceleration devices of the vehicle are activated as a function of the degree of the collision risk.