A method for the acquisition of collective surroundings information for cooperative and/or autonomous driving. The method includes a vehicle equipped with an on-board unit and surroundings observation apparatus which produces a report about a detected vehicle not equipped with an on-board unit and transmits the report to the further vehicles which are moving or are located in the respective area. The further vehicles which receive the report transmit back a confirmation message to the reporting vehicle and confirm that the further vehicles are happy with the report. The further vehicles then refrain from transmitting a separate report about the unequipped vehicle.