To determine the visual range of, in particular, a driver in a motor vehicle, a contrast ((c(x.sub.1), c(x.sub.2)) is measured from at least two measuring positions (x.sub.1, x.sub.2) of a measuring device situated at different distances from the object, and the ratio of the measured contrast values is converted to a visual range (.delta.), using the difference of the distances of the measuring positions from the object.