Abstract: An emergency warning device for a motor vehicle is made up of a long, brightly colored plastic sheet with a warning message which is stored on a roller and adapted to be mounted on the inside surface of the trunk lid of the vehicle. In order to warn other motorists of danger or emergency when the vehicle is stopped on a street or highway, the plastic sheet can be displayed by withdrawing it from the roller with the trunk in its open position; or, because of its length, it can be fed through the forward crack between the trunk lid and the vehicle body, brought across the top surface of the trunk and attached to the car, with the trunk closed to protect the contents. The proximity of the message to the bottom end of the sheet enables the message to be visible either when the sheet is partially unrolled or when fully unrolled and stretched over the outer surface of a closed trunk.