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I was then writing the daily TV column for the Toronto Star and I watched a preview of a new series on Discovery titled Canada's Worst Driver. It was hatred at first sight. I loathed the first episode because I misunderstood it.
Canada's Worst Driver | |
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The original Canada's Worst Driver title card used from season one until season eight. | |
Developed by | Proper Television |
Written by | Andrew Younghusband |
Presented by | Andrew Younghusband |
Country of origin | Canada |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of seasons | 14 |
No. of episodes | 115 |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) | Andrew Younghusband Lesia Capone Blair Ricard |
Producer(s) | Guy O'Sullivan (2005-2016) Blair Ricard Jeff Cole |
Running time | 46 minutes |
Release | |
Original network | Discovery Channel |
Original release | October 3, 2005 – December 17, 2018 |
Chronology | |
Related shows | Britain's Worst Driver (2002-2003) Canada's Worst Handyman (2006-2011) Blood, Sweat & Tools (2015) Don't Drive Here (2013-2015) |
External links | |
Website |
Canada's Worst Driver (often abbreviated to CWD) was a Canadiantelevision series that aired on Discovery Channel Canada, with reruns of past seasons occasionally airing on CTV. The show aired from October 3, 2005 to December 17, 2018. The show was based on Britain's Worst Driver, was a part of the Worst Driver television franchise and was produced by Proper Television, whose president, Guy O'Sullivan, was the director of the original Britain's Worst Driver series until its cancellation in 2003. O'Sullivan served as executive producer of Canada's Worst Driver until his death in April 2017, doubling as executive producer of sister series Canada's Worst Handyman until its cancellation in June 2011. As such, Canada's Worst Driver was considered to be the production company's flagship show and, with 14 seasons and 115 episodes aired, the longest-running of any Worst series to date. The series is also aired dubbed in French in Canada as Les Pires Chauffards Canadiens on the Z channel. Until June 2011, when Canada's Worst Handyman was cancelled and later replaced in 2015 with Blood, Sweat & Tools,Canada's Worst Driver and Canada's Worst Handyman were the two highest-rated programs on Discovery Channel Canada.
On May 21, 2019, it was announced by Younghusband via his personal Facebook page that the previously-aired fourteenth season had been the show’s last season, and that the show would not be renewed for a fifteenth season, with no reason being given for the show's cancellation.[1]
Format[edit]
In each season, a number of drivers (typically eight) and their nominators enroll at the 'Driver Rehabilitation Centre,' where they compete in challenges designed to improve their driving skills in an effort to not be named Canada's Worst Driver. In the first challenge, the contestants begin at a location about a 90-minute drive from the Driver Rehabilitation Centre. Following the directions that are given (in season fourteen, the contestants were given the directions through their GPS), each contestant must drive to the Driver Rehabilitation Centre where, upon arriving, the driver's license of each contestant is confiscated. For the first two seasons of the series, the drivers' car keys were confiscated instead. The first episode typically concludes with an obstacle course or assessment challenge, meant to evaluate the skills of each driver. The series is well known for its obstacle course challenges. Contestants must routinely maneuver their cars through tight spaces with less than an inch of clearance on either side of the vehicle. To show that the challenge can be done without hitting obstacles by an 'average' driver, Younghusband, himself an average driver (although he has since admitted that he was not that average when the series began), performs each challenge before any contestant attempts the same course. At the end of each episode, usually starting with the second episode of each season, each contestant meets with Andrew and a panel of four experts for an evaluation of his or her performance. Since the eighth season, the panel consisted of Tim Danter, Shyamala Kiru, Philippe Létourneau and Cam Woolley. After all remaining contestants are interviewed, the experts and Andrew deliberate on which contestant and nominator pair have improved enough to graduate from the Driver Rehabilitation Centre. The driver who has graduated is eliminated from the competition and is sent home with his or her license returned to him or her. Typically, the contestants drive off with their nominators in the car that they used to arrive at the Driver Rehabilitation Centre. During the series, the experts also reserve the right to not graduate anyone during an episode or to take other courses of action as they see fit. Graduating multiple contestants at the same time has occurred twice, with Jodi Slobodesky and Sean McConnell both graduating in the penultimate episode of Canada's Worst Driver 2 and Alex Morrison and Tina Cook both graduating in the second episode of Canada's Worst Driver 11. The panel may choose to expel any contestant prematurely who does not show any incentive to learn or who they believe should not continue driving, which has also occurred twice, with Canada's Worst Driver 2 contestant Colin Sheppard having his car key cut in half in the fourth episode and Canada's Worst Driver 6 contestant Scott Schurink having his shared insurance policy cancelled by his nominator, Danny Bridgman (rendering Scott unable to drive himself, as his insurance cost was too expensive). The panel may also release a contestant who they judge to be unable to continue the rehabilitation program for medical or legal reasons. In extreme cases, the experts may contact the relevant Ministry of Transportation and request that a driver's license be put up for review, if they believe that a contestant is medically unfit to continue driving. The elimination process continues until only three contestants remain (the original intent was for two contestants to remain, but in the first season, an episode was aired in which no one graduated due to an overall poor performance in the Trailer Reversing and Canada's Worst Parking Lot challenges, leading to three finalists; every subsequent season had three finalists), although Andrew twice suggested having a four-person finale (Canada's Worst Driver 7 and Canada's Worst Driver 10), a suggestion none of the experts followed through on. In each finale, the remaining drivers are given their final challenge-- typically a three-in-a-car forward-backward slalom within a certain time limit-- followed by the 'Mega Challenge,' an obstacle course with elements of almost every previous challenge seen during the season (with the exception of the standard transmission balancing challenge, among others). The Mega Challenge is itself followed by a driving examination through the busy streets of a major urban centre near the Driver Rehabilitation Centre. In addition to Hamilton, Ontario, where the Road Test has been held since season seven, the Road Test was held in other major urban centres: Montreal, Quebec (season one), Toronto, Ontario (season two, season four and season five), Barrie, Ontario (season three) and Niagara Falls, Ontario (season six). Based on these challenges, the experts determine which person is Canada's Worst Driver. The contestant who fares the second-worst is deemed to not have graduated from the Driver Rehabilitation Centre, while the contestant who fared the third-worst is typically considered a successful graduate or the final graduate of the rehabilitation center. This was not always the case, as during season eleven, despite finishing third-worst, Sholom Hoffman failed to graduate due to his poor track record. Unlike other Worst series around the world, where being a graduate is rewarded with a new car while the Worst Driver has their car destroyed, Canada's Worst Driver only awards a trophy at the end of each season to emphasize education, the learning process of the contestants and the science of driving above entertainment value.
Experts[edit]
Experts | Season | |||||||||||||
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1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | |
Cam Woolley | ||||||||||||||
Philippe Létourneau | ||||||||||||||
Shyamala Kiru | ||||||||||||||
Tim Danter | ||||||||||||||
Peter Mellor | ||||||||||||||
Dr. Lauren Kennedy-Smith | ||||||||||||||
Dr. Louisa Gembora | ||||||||||||||
Dan Bagyan | ||||||||||||||
Scott Marshall | ||||||||||||||
Marcus Agyeman | ||||||||||||||
Juliana Chiovitti | ||||||||||||||
Kelly Williams | ||||||||||||||
Jim Kenzie | ||||||||||||||
Dr. Uzma Rehman |
Challenges[edit]
With the exception of the first and last episodes, challenges are specifically tailored to each contestant and designed by Andrew and the driving school sponsoring the series (whose head instructor is one of the experts). Challenges typically range from traditional driving school lessons such as parallel parking, reversing and driving with a trailer to those not normally found in a beginner's driving course, such as driving a standard transmission vehicle and extreme driving manoeuvres (such as the Scandinavian flick). However, there are some challenges that are reused from year to year.
- The Shoulder Check Challenge is a challenge where contestants must drive in a straight line until they pass a sign on each side. The signs determine which of the two exits the contestants must take when the road forks ahead; however, the signs are posted in the reverse direction, so the contestants must briefly look behind them to read the signs. If neither exit is permitted, they are simply instructed to stop in front of the fork in the road. The lesson of this challenge is to only turn the head when performing a shoulder check.
- Distracted Driving is a challenge introduced in season two that was so unusually effective on one contestant (Matt Elkind) that it has been used in every subsequent season. In this challenge, drivers must drive around in a circle while having to do a series of tasks such as eating a sandwich, inserting a CD, texting and so on. Often, these tasks are tailored to each contestant's vices. The lesson is meant to teach individuals to not do these things while at the wheel, as it can cause potential accidents.
- Swerve and Avoid is a challenge where contestants must drive towards a wall at high speeds, only to turn away-- that is, swerve-- at the last moment to avoid hitting the wall. Typically, there are two exits to each side of the wall, which will either initially be blocked before one or both open at the last moment or initially be open before one or neither are blocked in the last moment. The lesson is to avoid touching the brake pedal, as putting the foot down on the brake would severely limit the car's steering ability.
- The Cornering Challenge is a challenge where contestants must drive towards a wall of foam blocks at high speed before braking hard, releasing the brake and then turning away from the wall. The lesson in this challenge is to release the brake so as to not lose steering input to the car when it is needed. In some years, a large wet tarp may also be laid out on the ground in front of the wall, to simulate icy or slippery conditions.
- The Three-Point Turn Challenge is a challenge where contestants must enter a small space and make a three-point turn, returning in the direction that they entered. The entrance may be off to one side of the area (as it is in earlier seasons) or to the centre of the area (as it is in later seasons). A key lesson in this challenge is to make use of the space available to the car in order to do the turn efficiently; in some years, obstacles may ring the outer perimeter of the area to give the contestants a better visual cue.
- The Eye of the Needle is a perennial challenge where contestants must navigate through a series of archways at a minimum speed. The intended lesson is to have the driver look where they want to go, in the middle of the archways rather than at the feet on one side of the archway.
- The Figure-Eight Challenge is a perennial challenge where drivers must reverse their car around a course in the shape of an 8. There are two versions of this challenge: one version, originally featured in the second season, had a pair of contestants perform the challenge simultaneously: both cars begin in one end of the course and contestants must reverse their cars to where the other contestant began, with the only passing spaces available at the centre and opposite end of the course. The second version, featured in the fourth season, has each contestant do one lap in reverse with the remaining contestants as passengers.
- The Parking Lot Challenge is a version of musical chairs where drivers must find spaces to park. The parking lot is filled with cars and may have blocker cars that attempt to frustrate the contestants and cars that may open up new parking spaces. Any driving violation-- such as parking in a no parking zone-- will typically send the contestant out of the parking lot in a lap penalty. The challenge ends when one contestant fails to park.
- Canada's Worst Gas Station is a variation on the Parking Lot Challenge with many of the same rules, where contestants try to park to get fuel at a simulated self-service gasoline station, avoiding the diesel pump, which their car can't use. Hitting anything or performing a moving violation requires the contestant to leave the station and come back to try again. Most of the pumps start with blocker cars in front of them, which will leave as the challenge goes on. The challenge ends when one contestant fails to get fuel.
- The Water Tank Challenge is a perennial favorite in which the contestants must navigate around a tight obstacle course in a car with a roof-mounted water tank; should the contestants stop too abruptly, the contents of the tank will spill over into the cab of the vehicle, soaking its occupants. In earlier seasons, this was done with a pipe system, though in later seasons, open-top cars or cars with a sunroof are used. Portions of the obstacle course will include a slow forward section, sudden stops due to last-minute reactions, such as a hidden stop sign or a pop-out car, a hump-- infamous for repeatedly soaking Andrew in his demonstration runs-- and optionally an acceleration portion. The intended lesson is on smooth threshold braking: should the contestants brake poorly or navigate too quickly, the water in the tank will spill, soaking both the contestant and nominator inside.
- The Handbrake Turn Challenge is a challenge that has contestants perform a handbrake turn around a foam figure while in a confined space. The intent of this challenge is for contestants to learn the distribution of weight in a car, as well as a lesson on how to properly control a car in a skid.
- The Reverse Flick is a challenge that has contestants perform the namesake technique in a confined space; it is in essence the handbrake turn in reverse, and without the use of the handbrake. The intent of this challenge is similar to the handbrake turn challenge, but also introduces elements of driving in reverse at speed.
- Drifting Doughnuts is a challenge introduced in season three where contestants must drive in a wide doughnut around a figure; the key to this challenge is counter-steering partway through in order to allow the car to continue drifting, eventually towards a designated exit point. The lesson behind this challenge is on extreme manoeuvres as well as avoiding target fixation.
- The Trough is a challenge used in later seasons where contestants must get their car to move across the namesake trough, a series of concrete Jersey barriers placed on their side, without the car leaving the rails and hitting the ground. The lesson behind this challenge is that the rear wheels will turn more sharply than the front wheels; the key to this challenge is to take wide turns and allow the car to hug the edges of the concrete rails.
- The Parallel Parking Challenge requires drivers to parallel park. Often, there is a moving obstacle, such an emergency vehicle, that the contestant must give way to.
- The Teeter-Totter is a challenge that has contestants balance a car atop a teeter-totter, such that both ends for the apparatus are off of the ground. The lesson of this challenge is on managing cars on slopes. The Gimbal is a variation of the teeter-totter challenge, where lateral motion is also introduced.
- The Slalom Challenge is a challenge where drivers 'swerve' around blue and pink foam mannequins. In season seven, they were changed into red and blue hockey players, in keeping with that season's 'Driving in Canada' theme. In season eight, they were changed into blue and pink shopping people, in keeping with that season's 'Big city driving' theme.
- The Lane Change Challenge is a challenge where the drivers are on a two-lane course. The goal is to pass Andrew twice as he drives around. Key to this challenge is learning the proper technique for lane changes (Check the side mirrors, activate the indicator, shoulder check, lane change). Each infraction committed or improperly-executed lane change requires the guilty driver to pass Andrew one extra time. The challenge concludes when only one contestant is left on the course.
Nomination[edit]
Like its sister series, the contestants are chosen by nominations submitted to Proper Television. Until 2011, when Canada's Worst Handyman was cancelled and later replaced in 2015 with Blood, Sweat & Tools,Canada's Worst Driver and Canada's Worst Handyman were filmed alternately, with each season of Driver followed by a season of Handyman (except for the first season, in which Handyman was filmed during the summer and Driver was filmed during the winter, Driver has been filmed during the summer and Handyman was filmed during the winter). Nominations for the next season of one are accepted shortly after the airing of another on Discovery Channel. Candidates may be nominated by multiple nominators, though only one nominator accompanies the contestant to the Driver Rehabilitation Centre.
Home Video/Internet Availability[edit]
Seasons 1-7 are currently available for download in Canada from the iTunes Store in widescreen standard definition (480p). Seasons 8-14 are available from iTunes in both standard definition and high definition (720p/1080p). Seasons 2-7 are available for streaming on CraveTV. Each season has also been posted on DiscoveryChannel.ca and YouTube for streaming. There has been no news on whether the series will be released on DVD/Blu-ray.
Seasons[edit]
Season | Original run | Location | Theme | Canada's Worst Driver | Reason | Notes |
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1 | October 3, 2005-November 21, 2005 | The Driver Rehabilitation Centre took place at CFB Picton (currently operating as Picton Airport), a decommissioned military base near Picton, Ontario that closed down in 1969, with the final road test taking place in Old Montreal. | Winter driving | Chris Ferguson | Chris was the first person named Canada's Worst Driver due to his inexperience on the road. | This was the only season filmed in the winter; all subsequent seasons have been filmed during the summer. This is also the first and only time that the final road test took place in a Canadian city not in Ontario; all subsequent seasons have the final road test in an Ontario city. |
2 | October 16, 2006-December 4, 2006 | The Driver Rehabilitation Centre took place within the grounds of CFB Borden, with the final road test taking place in Toronto. | Summer driving | Henrietta Gallant | Henrietta was named Canada's Worst Driver due to her vision issues and her insistence on not wearing glasses, along with being unable to complete the final road test. | This season saw the first-ever expulsion in any Worst Driver series when Colin Sheppard was expelled due to his unwillingness to learn. This season also saw the first time two contestants-- in this case, Sean McConnell and Jodi Slobodesky-- graduated in an episode. |
3 | October 29, 2007-December 17, 2007 | The Driver Rehabilitation Centre took place at the Edgar Adult Occupation Centre in the ghost town of Edgar, Ontario, with the final road test taking place in Barrie, Ontario. | Extreme driving manoeuvres | Jason Zhang | Jason was named Canada's Worst Driver for his dangerous final road test performance, stopping in the middle of merging onto Ontario Highway 400. As a result, Jason immediately surrendered his license and gave up driving permanently, the first-ever contestant to do so, which made runner-up Shelby D'Souza technically the worst by default. | This season saw the first time a contestant-- in this case, Billie-Jean Leslie-- graduated in the fifth episode. |
4 | October 27, 2008-December 15, 2008 | The Driver Rehabilitation Centre took place at the old Ontario Reformatory Prison, an abandoned correctional facility in Guelph, Ontario that closed down in 2002, with the final road test taking place in Toronto. | Legal consequences of bad driving | Ashley van Ham | Despite passing most of the challenges and being shortlisted four times, including three episodes in a row, Ashley was named Canada's Worst Driver for having never addressed her frustrations with her husband and nominator, Bryan. | This season saw the first-ever medical expulsion in any Worst Driver series due to the experts' belief that Donna Hicks should no longer be driving; Donna was eliminated in this manner in part due to angina. This season also saw the first and only instance of an all-female finale. |
5 | October 26, 2009-December 14, 2009 | The Driver Rehabilitation Centre took place within the grounds of CFB Borden (referred to on-air as 'an undisclosed military location'), with the final road test again taking place in Toronto. | Driver's boot camp | Angelina Marcantognini | Angelina was named Canada's Worst Driver due to her severe anxiety and lack of focus. Andrew further stated during the Canada's Worst Driver: U Asked! special his belief that Angelina is the worst of the 'worst drivers' to date, though he subsequently retracted this statement in Canada's Worst Driver Ever and said that her severe emotional problems were more to blame for her driving than a lack of technical ability. | This season saw the first time a contestant left due to a personal (and ironically, driving-related) tragedy-- Crystal Hubley Farao's brother-in-law, Tom Stagno, was killed in a motorcycle accident. This season was also the first to feature the three finalists driving a convertible on each of their final road tests during the final episode of every consecutive season. |
6 | October 25, 2010-December 13, 2010 | The Driver Rehabilitation Centre took place at Dunnville Airport, a registered aerodrome near Dunnville, Ontario that has since ceased airport operations, with the final road test taking place in Niagara Falls, Ontario. | High-performance driving | Lance Morin | Lance was named Canada's Worst Driver for being inexperienced and denying that his anxiety had anything to do with his driving. | This season featured the first-ever instance of a driver effectively being removed not by the experts, but by their nominator, after Scott Schurink's poor attitude caused his nominator, Danny Bridgman, to cancel their shared insurance policy, resulting in Scott's immediate expulsion, as he was unable to insure himself. |
7 | October 24, 2011-December 13, 2011 | The Driver Rehabilitation Centre was located at Dunnville Airport for the second year in a row, with the final road test taking place in Hamilton, Ontario. | Driving in Canada | Shirley Sampson | Despite performing well in most of the challenges this season, it was a disastrous road test that included stopping while on the Chedoke Expressway that caused Shirley to be named Canada's Worst Driver. | This season was the first to be broadcast in HD, owing to the launch of the high-definition simulcast of Discovery Channel. |
8 | October 29, 2012-December 17, 2012 | The Driver Rehabilitation Centre was located at Dunnville Airport for the third year in a row, with the final road test again taking place in Hamilton, Ontario. | Big city driving | Flora Wang and Kevin Simmons | Both Flora and Kevin were named Canada's Worst Driver for being equally bad in different ways, with Flora's poor progress and Kevin's non-functioning right eye, respectively, being their main issues. | This was the first and only time that there has ever been a tie for Canada's Worst Driver. |
Ever | October 28, 2013-December 16, 2013 | The Driver Rehabilitation Centre was located at the Dunnville Airport for the fourth year in a row, with the final road test again taking place in Hamilton, Ontario. | An 'all-star' season, which saw nine previous winners and runners-up return to the show for a chance to either redeem themselves or be named the worst-ever. | Kevin Simmons | Kevin was named Canada's Worst Driver Ever after turning in an even worse final road test than the previous season. Afterwards, he burned his license under the promise he'd made to the panel and his friend and nominator, Lenny Stone, that he'd stop driving if he either didn't graduate or was named the worst. | This season saw the first time a contestant graduated in the first episode (as Chris Ferguson was the only returning driver to pass the assessment challenge), another contestant was disqualified and removed from the show due to the experts judging Henrietta Gallant ineligible to take part (Henrietta admitted she largely gave up driving after previously being named the worst) and another contestant's nominator was replaced (Yolanda Kozak served as Michael Telford's nominator after his original nominator, Eric, was unable to return for health reasons; he had since recovered to replace her in the fourth episode after she was proven to be too negative and detrimental). |
10 | October 27, 2014-December 15, 2014 | The Driver Rehabilitation Centre was located at Dunnville Airport for the fifth year in a row, with the final road test again taking place in Hamilton, Ontario. | 10th Anniversary | Chanie Richard | Self-described 'Selfie Queen' Chanie was named Canada's Worst Driver for her lack of focus at the wheel and admission of driving without legally required medication. | None |
11 | October 26, 2015-December 14, 2015 | The Driver Rehabilitation Centre was located at Dunnville Airport for the sixth year in a row, with the final road test again taking place in Hamilton, Ontario. | High-speed driving | Jillian Matthews | Despite passing some challenges and numerous practice driving sessions in public off-camera, Jillian was named Canada's Worst Driver due to her inability to completely overcome her anxiety when alone behind the wheel, deemed by the judges to be a real danger to other drivers on the road. | This season featured nine contestants instead of the usual eight, as for the first time ever, a pair of contestants also acted as nominators for each other, as Sholom and Shmuel Hoffman both nominated one another and were considered equally bad drivers. This season also saw two contestants-- in this case, Alexander Morrison and Tina Cook-- graduate in an episode (the second time in the series' entire run). |
12 | October 24, 2016-December 12, 2016 | The Driver Rehabilitation Centre was located at Dunnville Airport for the seventh year in a row, with the final road test again taking place in Hamilton, Ontario. | Dangers of Speeding | Krystal McCann | Krystal was named Canada's Worst Driver due to her addiction to her cell phone, aggressive driving, mood swings, failing to improve her hostile attitude and not taking any of the lessons to heart (Krystal later attributed her behaviour to borderline personality disorder which she was diagnosed with after the show).[2] | This season featured the show's 100th episode, being the seventh episode of the season (specials included). This season also saw the first time the traditional trophy was not awarded to Canada's Worst Driver (it was instead repurposed as the Final Graduate trophy and awarded to Tyler Dupont) as the experts believed Krystal was not even worthy of it due to her hostile behavior in rehab. |
13 | October 23, 2017-December 11, 2017 | The Driver Rehabilitation Centre was located at Dunnville Airport for the eighth year in a row, with the final road test again taking place in Hamilton, Ontario. | Driving fears and the number 13 | Mélanie Lautard | Mélanie was named Canada's Worst Driver and the last female to be named as such due to her inability to focus on, apply and sometimes remember the lessons she was taught in rehab and her negative attitude towards herself and the Rehabilitation Centre's instructors while driving on- and off-camera. | This season saw the first former contestant-- in this case, Canada's Worst Driver 11 'winner' Jillian Kieley (née Jillian Matthews)-- return as the nominator of a new contestant, Ashley Dunne. This season also made more extensive use of helicopter droneaerial video than previous seasons. |
14 | October 29, 2018-December 17, 2018[3] | The Driver Rehabilitation Centre was located at Dunnville Airport for the ninth year in a row, with the final road test again taking place in Hamilton, Ontario. | Evolution of driving | Brandon Wilkins | Brandon was the final person ever given the title of 'Canada's Worst Driver' due to his reckless driving, emotional instability and lack of basic understanding of road signs and rules. As a result, Brandon immediately cut up his license after promising he would quit driving if named the worst, which made 'runner-up' Alexis Pratola technically the worst by default. | This was the only season to feature seven contestants instead of the usual eight. This season also marks the first time that a new contestant-- Ryan Whittier-- graduated in the first episode, while another contestant-- Brandon Wilkins-- had to get a doctor's note after arriving at rehab to get permission to be able to drive since he broke his arm in a skateboarding accident a week before filming. |
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^https://www.facebook.com/857985552/posts/10161997285840553/
- ^Snowdon, Wallis (December 14, 2016). 'After mental health journey, 'Canada's worst driver' back on the road in Edmonton'. CBC Edmonton News. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
- ^'Canada's Worst Driver - Season 14 postcard'(PDF). Bell Media - Advertising Sales. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
External links[edit]
- Canada's Worst Driver on discovery.ca
- Canada's Worst Driver on IMDb
- Canada's Worst Driver at TV.com
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Canada%27s_Worst_Driver&oldid=924997757'
Canada's Worst Driver 2 | |
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Country of origin | Canada |
No. of episodes | 8 |
Release | |
Original network | Discovery Channel Canada |
Original release | October 16 – December 4, 2006 |
Season chronology | |
Next → Canada's Worst Driver 3 |
Canada's Worst Driver 2 was the second season of the Canadianreality TV show Canada's Worst Driver, which aired on the Discovery Channel. As with the past season, eight people, nominated by their family or friends, enter the Driver Rehabilitation Centre to improve their driving skills. This year, the Driver Rehabilitation Centre is located at CFB Borden. Unlike the previous season, when the focus was on Winter Driving, the focus of this season was on Summer Driving. Also, the Driver Rehabilitation Program is one week shorter, which only persisted in this and next season (this is due to Sean McConnell and Jodi Slobodesky graduating in the penultimate episode of this season and Billie-Jean Leslie making Canada's Worst Driver history as the first—and, at the time, only—person to graduate in the fifth episode of next season). The initial drive started in Wasaga Beach, Ontario and the final road test occurred in Toronto, Ontario.
- 3Synopsis
Experts[edit]
Only one expert returns from Canada's Worst Driver 1:
- Markus Agyeman is an insurance broker who has insured the worst of the worst at his insurance company and provides a financial standpoint to the judging table.
- Juliana Chiovitti is a performance driving instructor and has an illustrious career in auto racing, including a first-place finish in the Formula 2000 series.
- Cam Woolley is a sergeant with the Ontario Provincial Police's Highway Safety Division, specializing in traffic-related incidents, investigating traffic crimes and collisions while promoting public awareness of traffic safety. He has escorted world leaders, royalty and the Pope through some of Ontario's major highways and is considered to be the face of the OPP.
- Scott Marshall is in his second season as the show's head driving instructor.
Contestants[edit]
- Karen Carson, 49 and licensed for 28 years, from Port Perry, Ontario, was once confident as a driver but is now too terrified to drive. When she does drive with her husband, Allan Carson, a police officer, it leads to fighting in the car. As a result, she has not driven at all for over a year and has not driven on a highway for longer. She drives a black Subaru Forester.
- Matthew 'Matt' Elkind, 29 and licensed for 13 years, from Toronto, Ontario, is a real estate agent who, because of his busy lifestyle, likes to multitask, so much so that he could be eating, smoking, reading a map, sending email and talking on a cell phone while driving with his knees. He steadfastly refuses to wear a seatbelt, as he believes it is the key reason why his life was saved in a car crash. He is nominated by his friend, Suzanne, a fashion executive. He drives a green Cadillac STS Seville.
- Henrietta Gallant, 61 and licensed for 35 years, from Rockland, Ontario (near Ottawa) (now lives in Summerside, Prince Edward Island), suffers from extreme stress while at the wheel, leading to many accidents. During the series, it is discovered that, due to having 20/100 vision like Heather Reynolds from the previous season, meaning she could only see 20% as good as other people, most of her troubles were caused by not having a proper prescription for her glasses. She is nominated by her husband, Andy Gallant, a civil servant. She drives a red Chevrolet Impala.
- Sean McConnell, 43 and licensed for 27 years, from Stratford, Ontario, is a champion video game racecar driver, having won an online competition, but uses the same techniques he uses while playing the game when driving in real life. He believes that he is safer by driving above the speed limit as it keeps him away from other bad drivers and treats every stop as if it's the start of a race. He is nominated by his niece, Melena. He drives a red Chevrolet Cavalier Z24.
- Colin Sheppard, 20 and licensed for three years, from Whitby, Ontario, is a Police Foundations graduate. Similar to Sean, he often drives above the speed limit and has gained over 30 tickets, but often uses his license as a Police Foundations graduate to get himself out of trouble. Despite this, he claims that cops 'aren't the smartest people out there' and often gets involved in street racing. He was nominated by his friend, Jeremy McCaig, an independent distributor. He drives a black manual transmissionHonda Civic.
- Jodi Slobodesky, 31 and licensed for 15 years, from Steinbach, Manitoba, is easily frustrated behind the wheel and becomes a driving hazard as a result. On occasions, she begins to forget basic driving notions such as the meaning of a green light. She is nominated by her husband, Sam Slobodesky, an auto body technician. She drives a red GMC Safari and drove a grey Pontiac G6 to the rehab centre.
- Michael Telford, 40 and licensed for 24 years, a landlord from West Vancouver, British Columbia (now resides on Vancouver Island), took nine attempts to get his driver's license in 1982 and cannot deal with surprises while driving. He also has a tendency to hold his breath when entering a tunnel and continues to hold it until he exits. He is nominated by his best friend, Eric Kozak. He drives a blue Mercedes C230 and drove a silver Ford Fusion to the rehab centre.
- Shannon Willemsen, 22 and licensed for five years, from Calgary, Alberta, is a student and a mother-to-be who enjoys totaling cars. She has 12 demerits on her license, two away from having her license revoked, while having accumulated over $10,000 in parking tickets, including a $489 ticket for driving at 60 km/h over the speed limit. Her cars last on average 3–6 months before being totaled and, at this rate, she may not afford to drive for much longer due to accumulated debts from tickets and rising insurance costs. She is nominated by her best friend, Sara. She drives a blue GMC Jimmy with a Chevrolet Blazer grill and drove a black Toyota Echo to the rehab centre.
Synopsis[edit]
Contestant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5[1] | 6[2] | 7 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Henrietta Gallant | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | CWD |
Michael Telford | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | RUNNER-UP |
Shannon Willemsen | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT |
Sean McConnell | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | |
Jodi Slobodesky | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | |
Colin Sheppard | IN | IN | IN | EXPL | |||
Karen Carson | IN | IN | OUT | ||||
Matt Elkind | IN | OUT |
- (CWD) The contestant became Canada's Worst Driver.
- (RUNNER-UP) The contestant was runner-up for Canada's Worst Driver.
- (OUT) The contestant graduated.
- (IN) The contestant was shortlisted for graduation.
- (EXPL) The contestant was expelled.
- ^1 The judges considered Sean to be the episode's graduation candidate, but decided not to graduate anyone because Sean refused to admit that driving slower was safer.
- ^2 Sean graduated immediately after Jodi on the condition that Melena readmit him to the Driver Rehabilitation Centre should he be caught speeding.
Episode 1[edit]
- Original Airdate: October 16, 2006
![Discovery canada worst driver colin update google maps Discovery canada worst driver colin update google maps](https://www.shyamalakiru.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/6.png)
- The Drive to Rehab: This season, the journey to the Driver Rehabilitation Centre starts from Wasaga Beach Provincial Parks in Wasaga Beach, Ontario, with the eight contestants with the eight drivers heading to rehab using a provided set of instructions, a journey that Andrew notes is an hour-long, 40 km (25 mi) drive. The contestants depart in the following order: Henrietta, Jodi, Matt, Karen, Michael, Colin, Shannon and Sean. Everyone makes a large number of moving violations on the way to rehab and the contestants arrive in the following order: Matt (who broke the law 10 times), Colin (who made 29 moving violations, enough to lose his license), Jodi (who asked for advice 39 times), Sean (who received $1,540 in ticketable offenses), Henrietta (who drove 22 km (14 mi) off course), Karen (who was given 68 direct orders from Allan), Michael (never at the speed limit the whole trip) and Shannon (who drove 37 km (23 mi) off course).
- First to Arrive: Matt was the third to leave, but the first to arrive.
- Last to Arrive: Shannon was the last.
- Slowest to Arrive: Shannon was also the slowest to arrive. During her drive, she drove 37 km (23 mi) off course. She arrived at 1:49.
- Fastest to Arrive: Colin, despite a promise to Andrew to obey all speed laws, arrives in 40 minutes.
- Skills Evaluation: In the skills evaluation, the drivers must take a 1978 AMC Pacer and steer through a tight precision-steering course before accelerating to somewhere between 40 km/h and 50 km/h and taking one of two possible exits, one of which is too short for their car and their roof-mounted cargo, a canoe and a tricycle. Afterwards, they must park their car in reverse, making sure that the canoe does not crash into the wall behind them. As an added surprise, a car at the start of the challenge is rigged to have its doors open whenever the car comes near, which the drivers must avoid.
- Best Performer: Sean, despite feeling that this is a race, hits the fewest obstacles with 15 (including the door), all of which were in the precision portion. The speed portion and the parking portions in his run went without incident.
- Worst Performer: Colin was easily the worst, due to wanting to trash the Pacer more than completing the course (though, as it was revealed in a later episode, he did manage to eventually finish), which he does by intentionally hitting the obstacles in the precision portion. In short, he does not even try the challenge. Of the contestants that did try, though, Karen, aided via direct orders by Allan, hits the obstacles 49 times, including a concrete barrier on the high-speed portion.
- Fastest Performer: Matt is the fastest to finish at three minutes, but hit the door, struggled through the precision portion and chooses the wrong exit. In total, he hits 28 obstacles.
- Slowest Performer: Jodi visibly breaks down partway though the precision portion and it takes her three attempts through the high-speed portion due to not maintaining speed. Although it takes her 56 minutes to complete (hitting 18 obstacles), she is the only contestant to miss the door.
Episode 2[edit]
- Original Airdate: October 23, 2006
- Parallel Parking: The drivers must drive a Winnebago up a hill in reverse and then parallel park it between two luxury vehicles—a Cadillac in front and a BMW behind. Andrew is seated in the BMW and is kept in communication with the motor home.
- Best Performer: Neither Karen, Shannon nor Michael hit either car in their attempts, though Shannon hits the fewest obstacles among the three with four. Sean, the fastest at the task, manages to park in only two attempts (although his end result is that one wheel is not on solid ground).
- Worst Performer: Neither Matt nor Jodi finish the challenge: for Matt, his first attempt was good, but he ended up being parallel to where he wanted to park and chooses to pull out and retry from the beginning, rather than adjust his vehicle slowly. However, each of Matt's attempts were worse than the one preceding it. For Jodi, she parks in such a way so as to hit the Cadillac in the event of brake failure. Of the contestants that do manage to park, Henrietta had the most hits and made the most attempts, not to mention caused the most damage, largely because she had never parallel parked before in her life.
- Eye of the Needle: In this traditional challenge, the contestants must go through a series of box archways and between columns of boxes, first at 30 km/h and then at 60 km/h.
- Best Performer: Matt manages to do both runs without destroying any boxes, but clips the right-side mirror in both runs. Michael does not hit anything at all, but had to redo his first run for failing to maintain speed.
- Worst Performer: Once again, Colin fails to try in this challenge, choosing to drive at over 60 km/h in his slow run, though, like Michael, he does not hit anything. Of the contestants that did make an attempt to do the challenge as instructed, Henrietta is by far the worst—as it turns out, her 20/100 vision requires her to wear glasses to drive on the road, which she does not do. Thus, she crashes into boxes even in her slow run, where she drives at 19 km/h. Also notable is Jodi, who is the first contestant in the series to hit an obstacle on the driver's side.
- Driving Distracted: Matt's stellar performance in the Eye of the Needle seemed to indicate that he is a better driver without the distractions. To demonstrate (and ultimately prove) this point, a course was set up specifically for him. There, while driving three laps around a narrow track, he does not hit any obstacles, but hits 13 of the 43 obstacles once given his cell phone, a CD, a sandwich and a drink.
- Crazy Eights: In this challenge, the contestants must reverse through a figure-eight obstacle course, two contestants at a time. The contestants start at one end of the obstacle course and the only places in the course where there is enough room to pass the other car is in the middle and at the other end of the course. Henrietta and Karen have the first heat, while Matt and Jodi have the second heat, speed demons Sean and Colin (forced by Andrew to complete the challenge in front of the other contestants) have the third heat and Michael and Shannon round out the fourth heat.
- Best Performer: Matt and Sean both hit two obstacles each: for Matt, he hits one on the way to the halfway point and the other as he was shutting down his car, while Sean makes his two hits on the way to the halfway point. Sean is also the fastest to finish at just over four minutes, while Matt finished in just under 30 minutes, due to having to wait for Jodi at the halfway point (Matt even trying to help her get there faster and trying to assist Jodi in finishing even after he was himself complete). Jodi herself managed only three hits.
- Worst Performer: Andy and Allan were instructed by Andrew to count the number of obstacles that their respective wives would hit, but it only served to frustrate Henrietta and Karen—to the point that both demanded that Andrew eject their husbands from their cars as both contestants were passing each other. Both would finish in under an hour, though, with Karen finishing in 43:54 and Henrietta finishing in 51:01. Also notable was that Colin had trashed the course again (though he finished with the second-fastest time of 6:26) due to having lost to Sean in their 'race.'
- Fastest Performer: Sean was the fastest, finishing in 4:16.
- Slowest Performer: Even though neither Michael nor Shannon managed to make it to the middle of the course on the way to the halfway point after 40 minutes, forcing Andrew to teach the two how to adjust their vehicle with 'S-bends,' Jodi proves the slowest, finishing in over an hour, mainly due to Sam's 214 orders, 67 of which were wrong. For Shannon in particular, it had proven to be a valuable lesson.
In deliberation, the judges are split between Matt, Shannon and Jodi. In end, Matt is the first graduate as it's clear that, without being distracted, he's a better driver. Andrew, however, makes Matt promise to never drive distracted ever again and gives him a Bluetooth headset as a parting gift.
Episode 3[edit]
- Original Airdate: October 30, 2006
- Road Signs: In a test of their road sign knowledge administered by Scott, it was found that many of the remaining candidates did not know even some of the most basic signs. Sean, however, did manage to get all seven signs correct, while Colin is the worst, getting only three signs right (he notably didn't even recognize the sign for 2-way traffic).
- Driving in a Straight Line: The contestants had to drive forward up a ramp in a straight line, then reverse down the ramp in a straight line. Michael, Sean and Shannon finish without incident, while Henrietta had to repeatedly adjust when reversing. Jodi's car, however, goes off the side of the ramp. Colin's run was not shown, nor was Karen's.
- Driving into a Wall: In this traditional challenge, the contestants are told by Scott to accelerate towards a wall of boxes, then brake, with the objective being not to hit them. Colin, Michael and Sean all stopped before the wall, though Colin pumped his brakes instead of skidded and Sean swerved to the side. Henrietta hit the boxes, while Jodi's run was not shown. For Karen, she had hit the boxes on her run, but when it was suggested that it is because of Scott's instruction (like it is with Allan in the passenger seat), a second run without Scott telling her when to stop led to a much worse result—Karen had smashed through the boxes and kept going. However, the biggest news to come out of the challenge was that Shannon was in fact pregnant, a fact that she told the judges after her run (as the judges reveal afterwards that they would not have let Shannon make her run had she told them about her pregnancy beforehand) and stopped well before the light turned red.
- Packing Up: In this challenge, the contestants must properly pack items in a station wagon situated in a campsite and, after reversing out of the campsite, proceed forwards with another car blaring its horn behind them (in each run, Andrew will be driving this car). The drivers then find themselves between the car and an ambulance and must soon reverse to clear the way for the emergency vehicle to pass through (the chase car will also reverse to make room). For this challenge, drivers are paired with different nominators to see whether their overbearing husbands impact Henrietta's, Jodi's and Karen's driving abilities—Jodi is paired with Jeremy, Karen with Eric, Michael with Sam, Colin with Sara, Sean with Allan, Shannon with Andy and Henrietta with Melena.
- Fastest Performer: Sean not only finishes with the fastest time of 2:55, but also manages to impress the judges when he was forced to repair the car (thinking that this was part of the challenge) when its battery cable came loose—a result from Colin's run immediately before his. Also notable is Shannon's run, where she chooses to pull over in reverse (meaning that she did not back up at all).
- Slowest Performer: Henrietta and Melena, not knowing how to open the car's rear door, pack their items to leave virtually no visibility and, as a result, gets their car stuck as the ambulance nears. Of all the contestants who do finish, Jodi is by far the slowest at 27:12. However, Michael and Colin finish their runs with ticketable offenses—Michael because he had accidentally left a first aid kit on the roof of his car and forgot to pack it before starting his run and Colin from sitting on the car door with half his body outside of the car while trying to impress a clearly bemused Sara and not wearing his seat belt until the road rager 'cop car' scares him to wear his seatbelt.
- Driving Distracted: Because the challenge was so effective on Matt in the previous episode, the same challenge was done for the other contestants (Henrietta and Jodi being exempt). Here, the drivers had to drive three laps around a narrow track while putting a CD into their car stereo, eating a sandwich, drinking Gatorade, make a phone call and putting on lipstick. Sean (who hit 18 of the 45 obstacles) and Michael both stated that they wouldn't do these things while driving, while Shannon is grateful for the lesson due to her pregnancy. Colin refuses to acknowledge the lesson, but manages to knock fewer obstacles (five) than most of the others (Michael had the fewest with four). Karen, being a fourth-generation police wife, makes the note that she would report anyone who tried any of this to the police, whether it's her husband Allan or otherwise.
- Canada's Worst Gas Station: In this musical chairs-like challenge, the seven drivers have to manage to find spaces in six pumps at a makeshift gas station with two entrances. At the start, three pumps are occupied and three are empty, with the three cars in occupied pumps serving as obstacles—one car (driven by Scott) will back into a parking stall before leaving, while the other two blocker cars will repeatedly leave and enter the same pump until their spaces are occupied. The seven cars are initially arranged in a line, with Karen and Henrietta on the outside, with Jodi and Michael next to them, while Sean has the initial disadvantage with his car in the centre, with Shannon and Colin on either side. Despite the initial disadvantage, Sean finds an opening, beating Jodi and Shannon to one entrance. Karen, against her husband's advice to secure one unoccupied pump, manages to secure another one. Sean would fill the space that Allan had pointed out, while Henrietta secures the last vacant pump. Scott's departure allows Shannon to secure a pump, though in leaving Henrietta is forced to move her car slightly. Jodi could not beat a blocker car to the pump, although she manages to take the pump vacated by the other blocker car (despite some parking trouble). Colin was left the odd man out after allowing Jodi to take the spot at a pump that he had already been sitting in when he saw how much trouble she was having with the exercise. After numerous block attempts against Colin from the third party drivers in the exercise, Michael finally managed to take the final spot. Colin's behavior to Michael is brought up by a miffed Andrew, but Colin just brushes it off believing he deserved that spot as a reward for helping Jodi. Between challenges, more of Colin's behavior is revealed. Since the beginning of the show, Colin has revealed that he uses his student card to get out of more tickets than he should have gotten (the total Colin said was 30) since he's a police foundations student. Also, despite studying to become a police officer, he says 'I don't think cops are the smartest people out there.' This infuriates Sgt. Cam, who sends Colin's home police service an e-mail containing Colin's quote above and pictures of his vehicle, which includes his license plate.
In deliberation, Scott and Cam are up for graduating Karen since she's had the best performance in both the Camping Challenge and the Gas Station Challenge, as well as her in-car relationship with Allan has improved, with her becoming more assertive and more in control. Marcus and Juliana, however, believe Michael should graduate since he has better driving skills and Marcus brings up the fact Karen ran through the wall in the Wall Challenge (even though she stated she learned the lesson afterwards). With a 2-2 tie between the judges, Andrew is left with the deciding vote and decides that Karen is the next graduate and gives her back her keys, becoming the second graduate of this season.
Episode 4[edit]
- Original Airdate: November 6, 2006
- Water Tank Challenge: The drivers are taught gentle braking in this challenge, where 500 litres (130 US gal) of water are placed in a tank over a car. The objective of the challenge is to maneuver the car around an obstacle course (complete with several surprises), with jerky braking causing the water to overflow from the tank, soaking the occupants in the car. Although everyone was soaked with at least 200 litres (53 US gal) of water out of the tank, the worst came with Jodi's 375 litres (99 US gal) lost.
- Navigating around CFB Borden: The drivers, in a navigation challenge, are given a list of 19 turns to be made around CFB Borden and up to 40 minutes to complete the task. Shannon finishes without any issues, also finishing the fastest at 20 minutes, with Jodi, Sean and Colin also managing to finish, despite having headed off-course (Sean and Colin had also sped in an effort to cut time and get back on course, with Colin not even taking notes, opting instead to record the directions on Jeremy's phone). Michael, although taking nine minutes to take meticulous notes on the 19 turns, fails to finish, while Henrietta's vision problems lead her to do the same.
- Fastest Performer: Shannon performed the fastest at 20:00.
- Slowest Performer: Of the drivers who finished this challenge without running out of time, Jodi performed the slowest at 37:03, asking Sam for advice 53 times during her run.
- Swerve and Avoid: The drivers practice swerving on three varying surfaces: mud, gravel and coated asphalt. Jodi is convinced she failed all three, but actually passed the asphalt (the only driver to do so completely), while Shannon is the only driver to pass the mud portion. Shannon, however, fishtails horribly after accidentally putting too much gas when attempting to swerve on gravel, although Sean and Michael do so successfully. Henrietta fails all three tests, but worst of all was Colin: it appeared upon closer inspection that he intentionally failed all three courses—he swerved with only one hand on the wheel in mud, locked up his brakes on gravel and accelerated when told to brake on the asphalt, causing him to hit the boxes with enough force to shatter the car's windshield. Colin claims that he blacked out when he was close to the box wall and that this often happens to him at the wheel, something Jeremy sarcastically backs up.
Although he is convinced that he duped everyone with this stunt, Cam is not convinced and calls Colin's bluff by threatening to have his driving license put up for medical review over these 'blackouts,' causing Colin to change his story and claim that it was a one-off event. He then calls a friend and brags about his destroying the windshield in the previous challenge, but the other contestants and nominators, including Jeremy, overhear this and all predict that he will be Canada's Worst Driver or be in the finale while Colin arrogantly claims that he will graduate this episode. The judges are stumped on who to graduate due to the poor performances. After 30 minutes of deliberation, the experts come to a short list of Michael and Sean. Marcus and Scott think Sean should graduate, while Cam and Juliana think Michael should graduate. Andrew, however, has a completely different idea—in what would have been the graduation ceremony, Andrew announces that Colin would be getting his car key back, to everyone's shock, but before he gives them back to Colin, he destroys the key with a cut-off tool. After, Andrew tells Colin that because of his immaturity and refusal to take the lessons seriously, he is expelled from rehab, clearly stating that they're not wasting their time on drivers who don't want to make a change. This marks the first time the series (including international versions) has had someone removed from rehab. As Colin, Jeremy and his car are towed all the way back to his hometown, Andrew makes a final comment: 'Let's all hope Colin loses his license before his life.'
Episode 5[edit]
- Original Airdate: November 13, 2006
- The Dirty Circle: The drivers have to reverse their car into a pile of mud, surrounded on all sides by a moat. While in the mud, they must perform a full 360° turn, then drive forwards out the way they came. Henrietta is the first to go and gets stuck in the moat on the way to the circle. After she is rescued, she manages to complete the course, but cannot see how someone could not reverse into the moat. Afterwards, Andrew takes Henrietta up on a suggestion that Henrietta would be in the seat next to Jodi and each driver would be in the passenger seat of the person going after them. Henrietta is able to help Jodi in her run, while Michael, with Jodi in the passenger seat, manages to turn 180° one way and 180° the other way before realizing that he had not in fact made a full 360°. Michael and Shannon argue in the car (although Shannon would make the fewest turns with 12), while Sean manages to finish the course the fastest (4:25).
- Fastest Performer: Sean performed the fastest at 4:25.
- Slowest Performer: Henrietta performed the slowest at 51:38.
- Best Performer: Shannon was the only one to complete this challenge with the fewest turns needed.
- Worst Performer: Henrietta did the worst, taking a 32-point turn and getting stuck in the mud.
- Scavenger Hunt: In this nighttime navigational challenge used in the previous season, the contestants become the navigators while the nominators drive the car. Each driver must drive to a post office in Angus, Ontario to send a postcard, then a store named Utopia, get a flag, buy a pizza, retrieve a party bag and head to 'Canada's Worst Party,' held by Andrew. In an added twist, all of the cars begin with a flat tire, which Sean notices right away. Although Sean is the first to repair the flat tire, Henrietta and Jodi reach the post office first and Sean eventually also reaches there thanks to meeting Henrietta (en route to Utopia) while trying to find his way to the post office. Shannon is the last to leave, but Michael is the last one to the post office, despite Sara being pulled over for speeding. Meanwhile, Henrietta manages to retrieve the flag and pizza while Jodi is patiently awaiting hers. Sean retrieves the party bag while waiting for the pizza, but gets lost on the way back to the pizza place. Jodi, Sean and Henrietta all manage to finish in 3:38, 3:46 and 3:55, respectively. As Michael waits for his pizza, Shannon comes in. Trying to avoid another flareup after what happened in the previous challenge, Michael decides to wait outside—a decision that proves costly, as Shannon steals Michael's pizza and finishes in 4:50, causing Michael and Eric to miss out on the party.
- First to Arrive: Jodi was the first to arrive, although Sam gave Jodi the silent treatment after being called an idiot. She arrived at 3:38.
- Last to Arrive: Shannon was the last to arrive. During her trip, Sara got pulled over for speeding, then Shannon stole Michael's pizza out of spite.
- Driving in Britain: The challenge is to drive an obstacle course using a manual transmission, right-hand drive Land Rover. Sean, due to his experience in driving stick shift, performs flawlessly—to the point where some of the judges were impressed with his performance. Shannon and Henrietta also have experience driving stick shift, but neither is as successful—Henrietta manages to stall the engine 33 times. Jodi also has problems on her run, due to Sam insisting that the first gear position was actually the third gear. Michael learned a lot from the challenge, although he stalled the engine five times, rolled backwards and hurt himself looking over his left shoulder.
In the end, none of the judges were enthusiastic about graduating any of the contestants. Andrew pointed out that they still had the option to graduate no one and in the end, that was the decision they came to.
Episode 6[edit]
- Original Airdate: November 20, 2006
- Extreme Off-Road: Aided by Sgt. Dan Andrews, the drivers have an off-road obstacle course challenge consisting of very steep ups and downs. While Shannon was ordered to go slow due to her pregnancy, Sean chose to drive conservatively, creating the impression to Sgt. Andrews that he is too slow. On the other hand, Henrietta and Michael both drive quickly. Henrietta, however, gets stuck going up a hill, while Michael believes he may be too slow to react. Jodi shows dramatic improvement and created the impression that she was experienced at driving off-road.
- Blindfold Driving: In this challenge that was used in the previous season, drivers will help their blindfolded nominators drive through an obstacle course, which contains a straightaway that they will have to drive at over 40 km/h. The nominators will be blindfolded with a bandanna.The drivers will also have 30 minutes to complete the course. Sean is again conservative in this challenge, telling Melena to stop 123 times and instructing her in great detail on the straightaway, which pays off as they finish without hitting anything and under the time limit. The same cannot be said about Michael—whose communication breaks down just prior to the straightaway—or Henrietta, whose driving causes Andy to go into a ditch during a straightaway run. Shannon hits 71 obstacles on the way to the finish, never telling Sara to stop and adjust.
- Stunt Driving: Henrietta, Michael and Jodi are taught by Juliana on how to do burnouts and donuts and each of them do reasonably well. Sam, in particular, is impressed by Jodi's performance. Sean races (and loses) against Juliana in a go-kart race, while Shannon installs a rear-facing baby seat in a car. Although Shannon gives up after accidentally installing the seat backwards, she realizes that she still has time to learn.
- High-Speed Slalom: In this challenge, drivers must go at least 70 km/h while avoiding boxes that are thrown from a truck in front of them before going into a merge lane and out of the way of the truck. Henrietta fails to maintain speed on the first run and hits four boxes in her second. Jodi, more confident than ever, does so well on her run (hitting only two boxes) that she wants to do it again at 100 km/h-- a far cry from the first episode where it took her three tries to take a car up to 40 km/h. She celebrates her newfound confidence with more donuts. Michael fails his first run, but upon finding out Jodi did a 100 km/h run particularly well, he opts to go for another run at 90 km/h, but crashes merging off of the course. Sean is particularly spooked by the challenge, failing to maintain speed, although he manages to admit that slower is indeed safer.
In stark contrast to the last two episodes, the panel feel that everyone (barring only Henrietta) has shown enough improvement to be seriously considered for graduation. After a lengthy discussion, the panel unanimously agrees that Jodi is the most improved overall and becomes the next graduate, once again ensuring that there will not be three women in the finale. After Jodi leaves, Andrew then makes the surprise announcement that Sean is also graduating this episode, for finally seeing the error of his speeding habits, sending Shannon into the finale with Henrietta and Michael, with Sean promising that he will always stick to the speed limit from now on and that he will buy his own go-kart and take up track racing in order to get his thrills, though Andrew gives him and Melena a set of bumper stickers with the show's phone number on it in case he ever speeds in public again.
Episode 7[edit]
- Original Airdate: November 27, 2006
- Trailer Parking: In this challenge, drivers have 60 minutes to reverse a truck with a trailer into a parking space in a campsite, while being assisted by their fellow contestants. Although Shannon loses her patience when her trailer repeatedly jackknives, she finishes the fastest in under 50 minutes with 32 attempts. Michael, on the other hand, does not finish in time. Henrietta takes 42 attempts and finishes with 49 seconds to spare.
- Mega-Challenge: This challenge consists of multiple parts, incorporating elements from every previous challenge, including high-speed driving, braking, reversal, driving off-road and navigating tight mazes. Shannon is forced to redo two different portions, while Michael fails four, including running over a cardboard copy of Andrew's 'mother.' Henrietta finishes the fastest at just over 21 minutes. However, all three drivers hit at least 30 stationary obstacles in the course.
- Fastest Performer: Henrietta performed the fastest at 21:08.
- Slowest Performer: Shannon performed the slowest at 34:28.
- Best Performer: Henrietta and Shannon were the only two people who passed this challenge, but Henrietta doing slightly better.
- Worst Performer: Michael did the worst, hitting 39 obstacles, including running over a cardboard copy of Andrew's 'mother.'
- Road Test: Drivers must navigate a 27 km (17 mi) course involving 33 turns through Toronto in a state-of-the-art car (Smart Fortwo) known for maneuverability and high safety rating, with the beginning in front of what is now the official headquarters of Corus Entertainment on Queens Quay East and the ending on the eastern side of what is now Starbucks Coffee. Shannon goes through the course with nine moving violations mostly resulting from stopping in the middle of intersections, such as Lower Jarvis Street and Lake Shore Boulevard East (committing two moving violations alone—blocking the crosswalk and running a red light), Bay Street and King Street West, Wellington Street West and John Street (on the north side of the CBC studios), Wellington Street West and Blue Jays Way (turning left from the center lane) that would total $990 in potential fines had she been caught, although she ultimately completes the course without any major incidents in slightly under an hour, just 15 more minutes than the drive should ideally take. Henrietta goes off course, committing numerous violations as she attempts to get back on course. Halfway through the course, her stress goes past the breaking point and, as a result, is unable to finish. Michael also gets lost and the fact that he fails to check a blind spot on Spadina Avenue and Oxford Street nearly leads to an accident when he cuts off a driver. Michael finishes with six moving violations—less than either Shannon or Henrietta committed, though the violations that he did commit were far more serious than any either Shannon or Henrietta committed and would carry larger fines than theirs. As if that's not enough, it took him just over three hours to finish a drive that should have taken only around 45 minutes, something made even worse by the fact that the rush hour traffic had mostly cleared by the time he started his run.
In their final discussion, the judges immediately agree that while she still has some way to go, Shannon is definitely not Canada's Worst Driver, as she improved the most out of the final three and learned to take responsibility for her actions. As for the remaining two, however, Cam and Juliana judge Michael to be Canada's Worst Driver, feeling that Henrietta would have had a better final drive had she been able to finish and that he was the worst in both the Trailer Reversing Challenge and Mega Challenge. Andrew, however, points out that Henrietta didn't finish the road test and that not only did she pass far fewer challenges in rehab than Michael, she often refused to take fault for her failures. The judges remain divided until the end, but the final decision ultimately swings against Henrietta; Michael therefore fails to graduate, while Henrietta is driven to a nearby airport in a limousine as the second person to be awarded the Canada's Worst Driver trophy.
Episode 8: 147 Driving Don'ts[edit]
- Original Airdate: December 4, 2006
In this season's recap episode, Andrew explains the specific don'ts of driving as illustrated by the contestants excluding Henrietta and Matt—Michael (analytical expert), Jodi (motivational expert), Colin (ethical expert), Sean (logical expert), Shannon (emotional expert) and Karen (backseat bullying expert).
External links[edit]
- Canada's Worst Driver on IMDb
- Canada's Worst Driver at TV.com
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Canada%27s_Worst_Driver_2&oldid=918416449'
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