Abstract: This protective device (100) is used in a motor vehicle having a front hood (300), which covers the front of the vehicle, leads up to the front windshield and which, at the windshield, is rotatably coupled via a hinge system (200) to the body of the front of the vehicle on both sides of the vehicle. According to the state of the art, the inventive protective device consists of a hinge support (2), which is provided for indirectly coupling the hinge system (200) to the vehicle body and which is mounted in a raisable manner on the body of the front of the vehicle. The protective device also consists of an energy-storing implement, which acts upon the hinge support (2) while being provided in the form of a spring storage system (4), and consists of a sensor-controlled retaining device (11) for actively engaging with the hinge support (2) so that, in the normal state, the hinge support is held down and during a collision, can be released by sensor actuation in order to execute a limited raising movement.