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Forgotten babies in cars: Quebec coroner’s report says it could be avoided

Click to play video: 'Montreal teens’ device alerts drivers about infants in the backseat'
Montreal teens’ device alerts drivers about infants in the backseat
WATCH: A Quebec coroner says more could be done to prevent the deaths of infants forgotten in cars after an 11-month-old baby died in 2016. As Global's Gloria Henriquez reports, the coroner mentions a device developed by teenage twin sisters from Montreal that could help save lives – Jul 5, 2018

Quebec’s Coroner’s office has released its report looking into the death of an infant who was forgotten inside a car in St Jerome in 2016, pointing out such deaths could be preventable with technology.

After dropping off his two older children, the father of the 11 month-old drove straight home instead of dropping the boy at the daycare.

He had a change in routine that threw him off. The coroner, Denyse Langelier, deemed the death accidental.

In her report, Langelier looked into different technologies that are available to help parents avoid such mistakes.

Langelier says she reached out to Canada’s Transport Ministry to find what their stance was on the different technologies.

Transport Canada replied that after studying several devices, they determined none was entirely efficient to prevent parents from leaving children in their cars.

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Transport Canada added it will continue to study the issue to determine if it warrants legislation.

Most recently, a baby was left in a hot car in Griffintown. The child’s father believed he’d dropped him off at his daycare, but went straight to work instead.

16 year-old twin sisters’ from Town of Mount Royal invention a possible solution

One of the devices mentioned by the coroner was an invention created by 16 year-old twin sisters from the Town of Mount Royal.

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Marie-Pier and Sofie Vermette-Lacroix’s invention, called “Attention, bébé à bord!” is a device that alerts the driver when they forget their child in the car.

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The baby’s car seat is equipped with a weight sensor that sets off an alarm after 15 seconds if the baby is still in his seat after the driver has left his.

The sisters created the device as their science project after hearing of the 11 month-old’s death in St. Jerome on the news.

The project earned them a bronze medal at the Canada-Wide Science Fair in 2017.

Sophie said hearing that the coroner mentioned their device as a possible solution motivates them to continue developing their project.

“It’s very touching for us,” Sophie said.

“It shows that it’s important to have this type of product to put in all baby seats,” Marie-Pier added.

The sisters are looking to team up with a company that can help them commercialize their device.

The prototype cost them $35 to make, but they estimate costs can go down to $20.

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