An Alexandra couple hope others can learn from their near-death experience after being trapped in their new "keyless" car in their own garage for almost 13 hours.
garage [gərάːʒ] … 車庫
Confusion about operating their Mazda 3 hatchback led Mollieanne and Brian Smith to believe there was no way to get out after they got stuck inside last month.
After becoming trapped about 7pm on November 5, their attempts to escape included sounding the horn and trying to smash a window with a car jack.
car jack … 車のジャッキ
Mrs Smith said it was Guy Fawkes night, and no one would have noticed the horn due to fireworks.
Guy Fawkes night … ガイ・フォークス・ナイト（Wikipedia）
When they were freed by neighbours about 7.45am the next day, Mrs Smith was unconscious and her husband was struggling to breathe.
struggle to … 必死で～しようとする、～しようと四苦八苦する
She said they were told by emergency services if they had spent another half hour in the car and they could have died.
Afterwards, Mrs Smith spent three days in Dunstan Hospital.
Mr Smith, who considered himself "very methodical", said he could not find the unlocking mechanism.
methodical [məθάdikl] … きちょうめんな
"Once I found out how simple it was to unlock it I kicked myself that I did not find the way out ... I had this mind-set that I did not have the transponder [so I could not get out]." The car salesperson had made it seem the car would not work without the transponder, he said.
mind-set … 考え方、物の見方
transponder … トランスポンダー、応答装置、送受信機
He now knew the manual lock was the same as the inside door handle on many other vehicles.
Mr Smith said his message for owners of "keyless" cars - not just Mazda models - was to educate themselves on how to operate their car before using it.
Mrs Smith said she had decided to speak out as people needed to be aware of the risks of keyless cars, particularly older people inexperienced in new technology.
speak out … 率直に意見を述べる
She had received phone calls from about five people reporting similar keyless-car experiences.
Mazda New Zealand general manager Glenn Harris said the report of the couple being trapped in the car in that manner was an industry first.
industry first … 業界初
"It's not a design flaw with the car ... what we have said to the network is, with new technologies, don't forget to show customers how to use them in their entirety [and] how to override them. There is always a manual process to override them." Mr Harris said he "completely" empathised with the couple, and said the company needed to ensure it did not happen to anyone else.
in their entirety … 完全に
empathise with = empathize with … 感情移入する、共感する
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