The other day, while posting on a scooter forum, I read a question. The gentleman was asking about the purpose of the small button on the floor of a vintage step-thru scooter. Someone had given him the correct information, saying that it was a dimmer switch for the headlight. Another answer was that it might be a Burmuda Bell. For those not familar with the Burmuda Bell, let me just say that it was a device used in the 1950's to make a car say "Bing bong" instead of "Toot toot." It was operated by a foot switch.
Well anyway, these guys on the scooter forum are my friends, so maybe they won't kill me for the following post:

Shame on you all. Dimmer switch, Bermuda Bell, hah! You know it's a
panic button. The man just wants a straight answer. A Panic Button
was required by law in all 48 states from 1936 until 1958. Some
Cushmans had one as late as 1963.

A Panic Button is used in case of emergency. For example, if the
rear tire goes flat, hit the Panic Button. If the chain flies off,
hit the Panic Button. If the brakes break and won't brake, hit the
Panic Button. If you are late for a date, hit the Panic Button. If
you can't find a bathroom, hit the Panic Button. If the engine runs
out of oil, hit the Panic Button. If it starts to hail while you are
crossing a rain-slick bridge in a cross wind in the middle of the
night at high speed with only a rear wheel brake and the draw bridge
is open, hit the Panic Button. If you run out of gas in a bad
neighborhood at 1:00 am, hit the Panic Button twice.

Panic Buttons are standard equipment on all aircraft. Ask any pilot.
They are recommended, but not required, on the teacher's desk, and I
never taught a day without one. Only a fool would drive a car or a
trailer truck through Atlanta without one. I am considering
installing a Panic Button on my riding mower.

As you can see, a Panic Button is the most useful accessory you can
have on your Cushman. A dimmer switch, however, is useless because
your lights don't work anyway, and besides, you never ride at night
and if you did, you'd find out that, even on bright, that Permalite
generator won't produce enough light to blind anybody.

And Bermuda Bells are just a figment of somebody's imagination.
Let's hear it for Panic Buttons!
Howard