Canada's Worst Driver
Canada's Worst Driver was a Canadian television series that aired on Discovery Channel Canada from October 3, 2005 to December 17, 2018, with reruns of past seasons occasionally airing on CTV. Based on Britain's Worst Driver, Canada'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 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, Younghusband announced via his personal Facebook page that the show would not be renewed for a fifteenth season.
Format
In each season, a number of drivers 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, 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, performs each challenge before any contestant attempts the same course. At the end of each episode, 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. This was not always the case, as in the fourth season, due to being too young to have a rental car insured, Teagan Cramer was given a limousine ride home after graduating in the penultimate episode, while in the fifth season, Joanna "JoJo" Kopty drove home in a Mercedes-Benz as a reward for being that season's first graduate. 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. 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, which has also occurred twice, with Canada's Worst Driver 4 contestant Donna Hicks having an angina attack and effectively falsifying her medical form and Canada's Worst Driver 6 "runner-up" Dale Pitton attempting to quit rehab during her appearance on Canada's Worst Driver Ever and refusing to take responsibility for her actions, leading the experts to decide not to even afford Dale a medical-based departure, as they did with Canada's Worst Driver 5 "winner" Angelina Marcantognini, who was booked into a 60-day stay at a specialist psychiatric clinic during her appearance on Canada's Worst Driver Ever. The elimination process continues until only three contestants remain, although Andrew twice suggested having a four-person finale-- in the penultimate episode of Canada's Worst Driver 7 when he unsuccessfully tried to convince the experts to not graduate Afiya Lassy, believing that she was still a pathological liar who told the experts what they wanted to hear and in the penultimate episode of Canada's Worst Driver 10 when he unsuccessfully tried to convince the experts to not graduate Tyler Fitzsimmons due to the all-around awful performances in the Icy Corner Challenge despite Tyler performing the best and would likely avoid most dangerous situations in real-life. 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 and 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 was held since season seven, the Road Test was held in other major urban centres: Montreal, Quebec, Toronto, Ontario, Barrie, Ontario and Niagara Falls, Ontario. 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 seasons Ever and eleven, despite finishing third-worst, Sly Grosjean and Sholom Hoffman respectively failed to graduate due to their poor track records. 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
Challenges
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. 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. However, there are some challenges that are reused from year-to-year, like The Eye of the Needle and The Water Tank Challenge, which were both first introduced in the first season and are the only challenges to be featured in every season.- 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 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 or to the centre of the area. 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. 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