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Chris Hanson-Abbott formed Brigade Electronics in 1976, inspired by the strange beeping sound he heard emanating from the rear of a small truck on a street in Tokyo. At the time reversing safety had not been addressed outside of Japan, but with the Health & Safety at Work Act recently passed into UK law and vehicles already accounting for a vast number of fatalities, Chris felt it time for change. With support from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), Brigade launched its first reversing alarm at the 1976 Commercial Vehicle show in London. The reaction was mixed. The press was curious, but the vehicle manufacturers and fleet owners were less enamoured, and the show ended without a single sale. To add insult to injury the publicity culminated in the Department for Transport announcing that reversing alarms contravened the Construction & Use Regulations – and were thus illegal.