the invention relates to a safety net device with a housing , in which a winding shaft is rotationally mounted . the winding shaft is pretensioned by means of a spring motor in the direction of winding of a safety net which is fixed to the winding shaft . the other edge of the safety net is connected to a pull bar which is suspended in recesses in the car body . in order to minimize the effort required by the user to suspend said device , a holding device absorbs at least part of the pull - back force when the safety net is wound back into the housing immediately after the safety net has been pulled out of the housing to enable the pull bar to be suspended in the recesses . the holding device can be released at will in order to roll up the safety net back into the housing .