Help Concepts, the company behind Help Alerter, likes to advertising its product with newspaper clippings about roadside slayings--and I suppose that really does help drive the point home. The Help Alerter device is a flashing signing with the word "HELP" that sits behind a driver's license.

When a driver gets stuck on the side of the road, he or she unscrews the license plate, and the Help Alerter goes to work. That's pretty much it. The sign is constructed out of heavy-gauge plastic and has its own built-in battery. Even when its exposed, the license plate is still visible, hanging just below the sign.