MENLO PARK, Calif. (KCBS) _ A Bay Area father has created a product in the hopes of helping parents avoid tragedy.

After hearing too many news reports about children who died after their parents inadvertently left them in hot cars, David Bell, a Menlo Park father of two and part-time inventor decided he wanted to try and help.

“I started thinking, what does it take to solve this kind of an issue because in my mind, it was only going to get worse,” Bell said. “Because of the way we are all inundated with tight schedules and too much data, too many cell calls.”

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So Bell founded VisibleKIDS LLC and created the VizKID, which he describes as something similar to a 24-inch chess pawn with a bright yellow head.

The VizKID sits in the front seat with mom or dad and serves as a visual reminder that the baby is in the back.

Bell said that in a perfect world, parents would keep the VizKID in their child’s car seat when they aren’t there. But really what’s most important is where the VizKID is placed when the child is in the car.

“The product is to make sure, when you stand it up next to you in the passenger seat, belt it in when you’ve got the baby in the back,” Bell said.

Bell’s VizKID is available at several retail stores on the Peninsula and he hopes it soon will be available through Amazon as well.