Traffic messages are received together with the respective position of the point relating to the message. Only those traffic messages that relate to a selected area together with the respective position of a point related to the traffic message are stored. The positions of the traffic messages are compared with a respective position of the motor vehicle in order to determine distances between the respective positions in the traffic messages and the position of the motor vehicle. The traffic messages are sorted in accordance with distances determined and the traffic messages starting with the smallest distance are outputted. Whether the traffic message is significant for a current direction of travel or for an opposite direction of travel is detected, and only traffic messages that are relevant to the current direction of travel are outputted.