On the basis of a sensed driving situation of a vehicle which will occur in the future, it is determined whether a driving assistance system is able to control the vehicle in the automated driving mode in the future driving situation. If it is determined that an automated driving mode is not possible in the future driving situation, and a time (Ts) up to the occurrence of the future driving situation is longer than a time (Tu) necessary for the driver to assume control of the vehicle, it is checked whether the manual control processes sensed by sensors of the vehicle correspond, in the current driving situation, to the automated control processes, determined by the driving assistance system, for the current driving situation. In this case, the assumption of control of the vehicle by the driver is confirmed, and the vehicle continues to be controlled in the manual driving mode.