Side crashes expose the occupants to the highest risk of injury. A side crash with a tree or pole is particularly dangerous. Important here is to detect the crash risk as quickly as possible and to fire the side airbags. The CAPS function Early Pole Crash Detection networks ESC and the airbag control unit. If the function recognizes critical lateral motion of the vehicle from the sensor signals of ESC, it prepares the airbag control unit for a possible side crash. Should this actually occur, the side and head airbags can be triggered sooner than previously, dramatically improving their effectiveness.