December 22, 2014

Things you should warn your grandparents about

Newswheel - While everyone in the little [New Zealand] town of Alexandra, Otago (population less than 5,000) was out celebrating Guy Fawkes Day, Mollieanne (65) and Brian Smith (68) were locked in a keyless car in their own garage. At least, they assumed they were.

A series of events led the couple to believe they were stuck in their newly-purchased Mazda3 hatchback with no way of escape: the remote keyless entry fob was outside the car, the car manual was left in the house, it was “late” (apparently 7:00pm is late for some people), everyone was out celebrating the holiday…

Rather than thinking to unlock the vehicle the traditional way, as it has been done for decades, the couple attempted to break through the glass with car jack (which failed due to their weakened state) and honking the horn (which failed, according to Mollieanne, because the Guy Fawkes Day fireworks were too loud).

Calling this a near-death experience isn’t an exaggeration. The couple was discovered by neighbors at 7:45am the next day, with Mrs. Smith unconscious and Mr. Smith struggling to breathe. According to emergency services, they were potentially less than an hour away from death.

The Smiths blamed much of it on their confusion about how keyless entry worked, pointing to their dealership salesman who supposedly told them the car wouldn’t work without the transponder.

No comments: