The present invention relates generally to distress signalling or help summoning devices for use on a disabled motor vehicle and, more particularly, to a help summoning device which can be compactly stored within the vehicle for quick assembly and deployment by an occupant of the vehicle from the security of the occupants' compartment. In this way, the occupant of a vehicle, typically a passenger automobile, may remain safely within the occupants' compartment while deploying the help summoning device. In addition to passenger automobiles, the help summoning device of the present invention is contemplated for use on trucks, boats and any other form of vehicle which may become disabled such that there may be a need for summoning help.
On modern highways, and particularly, along the extensive network of freeways extending across the United States, a disabled vehicle presents a serious hazard, both to the occupants of the vehicle and also to the occupants of other vehicles which must pass the disabled vehicle as well as negotiate poor traffic conditions which may be generated thereby. While most modern vehicles include emergency flasher systems which simultaneously flash all turn signals of the vehicle, such emergency flashers are utilized to warn of a wide variety of hazards ranging from traffic congestion to a vehicle parked, for example, to permit a motorist to review a map.
Accordingly, it is desirable to have a specialized help summoning device in the event a vehicle becomes disabled. It is also desirable to be able to deploy such a help summoning device from within the occupants' compartment without having to step outside the vehicle or open an otherwise locked vehicle door. The added safety of such deployment is clear when one considers the dangers presented by high speed traffic passing at close range to a disabled vehicle and also an undesirable element which appears to have increased in numbers in recent years and may be all too apt to take advantage of the situation of a disabled vehicle.