Enabling a highly automated driving function

The invention relates to a method for automatically operating a vehicle (10) on a route (12) lying ahead. The method is characterized in that the automatic operation of the vehicle (10) is allowed only if one or a group of the following conditions is met for a specified route length of the route (12) lying ahead: -a structural separation (16) is present on at least one side of a current road (14) of the vehicle (10), -a lane (18) of the vehicle has a minimum lane width (20), -no protuberances or depressions are present which substantially restrict the range of the surroundings detection sensors, -the number of lanes (18) does not change, -no tunnels (22) are present, -no buildings (24) are present on the road (14), -no intersections (26) are present, -a curvature radius (28) of the lane (18) of the vehicle (10) is greater than a specified threshold, -no traffic disturbances are present, -no traffic messages regarding dangerous situations are being provided, and -no traffic messages regarding the presence of c