It is customary to use signals from a motor vehicle central control in order to operate braking equipment for motor vehicles which automatically produces braking forces for states of standstill of a motor vehicle which are capable of holding a motor vehicle at a standstill. The signals which are provided by the central control are used to determine whether or not the motor vehicle is at a standstill. It is consequently also necessary to operate the central control during a state of standstill for the motor vehicle in order to produce the required braking forces. The braking equipment can no longer be operated as desired if the central control fails or malfunctions. These problems are solved by the invention, which provides standstill recognition for motor vehicles which enables braking equipment which automatically produces braking forces during standstill to be automatically controlled.