Mon, Nov 19, 2018
With, for the second week in a row, no one having graduated after the latest panel deliberation, six nominees still remain at the Centre. There is only one official challenge this week, the swerve and avoid challenge, the maneuver which is taught to the nominees by Philippe. The maneuver is to be used to avoid hitting something when there is insufficient room to brake before hitting the object. The most difficult aspect of the maneuver may be the natural instinct to brake, which in this case will only lock the vehicle's movement in the direction it is already traveling. The other item which the panel will use to evaluate is the public drives on which Tim takes the nominees individually, he focusing on the aspects which he feels will help each nominee in becoming a more competent driver. Also this week is the annual distracted driving demonstration, which has become more important as cell phone use behind the wheel now accounts for one-quarter of all traffic accidents and as five of the six remaining nominees all routinely and unabashedly use their cell phone behind the wheel. Some of the nominees already know that they being distracted behind the wheel is an issue, and what they say coming out of the demonstration may also impact if they will be considered for graduation. In the deliberation, Darris once again is the question mark, with the experts deliberating on whether he truly has changed, whether they can do anything more for him at the Centre and whether he will be a public safety hazard once outside the proverbial walls of the Centre and the eyes of the panel. In the deliberation, Darris' mother, Jen, also becomes a question mark in if she is true to her word of no longer enabling Darris' behavior by paying all his vehicle related bills, including what would be his $7,000 annual vehicle insurance.
Mon, Dec 17, 2018
With Descy McMurray being named the most recent graduate, the three nominees in the finale to be Canada's Worst Driver Season 14 are Brittany Dube, Alexis Pratola and Brandon Wilkins. They all reached this point in the unprecedented request to be in the finale (Descy who had no desire to be), with Brittany and Brandon making the further unprecedented declaration that they will cut up their license and either start from scratch or never drive again if named Canada's Worst Driver, something to which Alexis also ultimately agrees for herself perhaps in her belief that she will not get the title. Brittany arguably has more to lose in this declaration as driving is one important access point she has to her nominator sister Mia's children. The first challenge of the week is the three in a vehicle challenge, where, driving a stretch limousine with the two other nominees in the front passenger seat, each nominee will have ten attempts to complete a forward and reverse slalom starting and ending driving through a "needle" in under fifty seconds without hitting anything to be considered a pass. The second challenge is the annual finale mega challenge where the nominees drive through a course testing all that they have learned while in rehab. This year's course includes an "eye of the slalom" section, a forward precision steering section, a concrete trap section, a reverse precision steering section, a one hundred eighty degree handbrake turn section, and two more needles leading into an icy corner section. The final challenge is the public drive on a preset route through the streets and on the highways in and around Hamilton, with Andrew, their passenger, giving them ample verbal direction on when their next turn will be. In the expert panel deliberation, the best of the three and who will be named Canada's Worst Driver Season 14 are clear. The biggest question becomes what to do with the person in the middle, who in most years would have been named Canada's Worst Driver and who the panelists largely agree will still be a menace on the road.
Mon, Nov 26, 2018
With Darris Wilderman being named the second graduate of the season, five nominees remain at the Centre. Their backing up skills are tested in all of the three challenges this week. With Tim in the vehicle, the nominees are able to see the mechanics of parallel parking using the vehicle's automated parking technology before they may be able to put these skills to good use in the annual parking lot challenge. The nominees must be able to back into whatever space is available in one motion, some of those spaces which are in the parallel parking vein. Hitting anything or contravening any traffic law, including parking in what may be considered illegal spots, will require the driver to take a "lap of shame" around the exterior of the lot before they can attempt to park again. Tim laments most driving schools not placing more emphasis on parking lot parking as he and the other experts watch how most most of the nominees don't understand the fundamentals of positioning their car before backing up. Tim then teaches them how to back up a trailer before he shows them the trailer backup assist function available in the vehicle they will be driving in the trailer backup challenge, the assist, which will prevent the trailer from ever jackknifing, which the nominees have the option to use in the challenge if they so wish. And Philippe shows the nominees how to perform a one-hundred eighty degree reverse spin-out, which they must do in an enclosed space in the third challenge. In the resulting panel deliberation, skill versus attitude are points under discussion in who, if anyone, graduates this week.
Mon, Oct 29, 2012
This season, the eight nominees for Canada's Worst Driver will be facing big city driving issues. Those eight are: Robert Cardenas who believes slower is always better, and who doesn't know how to drive quickly; Margherita Donato who is more concerned about her appearance than the fact that if she gets one more traffic ticket she will lose her license; Azim Kanji, whose stress behind the wheel compounds with every negative incident and which is manifested by his stress-induced alopecia; eighteen year old Klyne Postnikoff who is at the Centre to prove his nominator mother wrong that his reckless approach to driving is an issue; Dallas Sam, a nervous woman who always needs advice when she's driving; Kevin Simmons who does have a physical disability - a glass eye - which compounds his driving issues; Flora Wang, a non-confident woman which is not helped by her nominator husband who constantly barks orders at her and who often grabs the wheel while she's driving; and Diane Zbierski whose answer for her nervousness behind the wheel, especially on the highway, has been not to drive. Their first task is to drive the predetermined route with their nominator in the back seat (so as not to allow them to grab the wheel) from Niagara Falls, Ontario to the Drivers' Rehabilitation Centre at Dunnville Airport. They are then subjected to an assessment drive, which includes a tight U-turn in a concrete-barriered course, a reverse section through both a straight and curved section, and a slalom which must be driven at at least 50kph. The eight then meet the expert panel for the first time, the panel who provide their initial assessment.
Mon, Dec 11, 2017
With Shayne Greer being named the latest graduate, there are three nominees remaining at the Centre who are in the finale for the running of Canada's Worst Driver: Adam Bourre, Ashley Dunne, and Melanie Lautard. Their first challenge, which they each have ten attempts and forty-five seconds per attempt to complete, is a forward and reverse slalom course. Andrew decides at the last second to implement something new to the challenge to help the drivers succeed. Their second challenge is the annual mega-challenge, where each is required to use all the knowledge learned at the Centre to maneuver through a set course. The sections on the course include a combined eye of the needle/slalom section, a forward and reverse precision driving section which includes a turnaround corral, a reverse flick section, and an icy corner section the approach to which has two more needles. Their final challenge is to drive through a preset route through the streets and highways around Hamilton, Ontario with Andrew as their passenger and adjudicator. The final challenge is altered this year to deal with specific issues of the three finalists and to keep them and Andrew as safe as possible. The person named Canada's Worst Driver may come down to one event during the public drives, and if the panel believes the seriousness of that event makes that driver the worst.
Mon, Dec 10, 2018
With Karlene Bowen named the most recent graduate, albeit under less than usual circumstances, four nominees remain at the Centre in the running for the Season 14 title. Before the nominees embark on their challenges for the week, Andrew acknowledges a letter received from a viewer, Will Banda, who credits the show for saving his and others' lives in teaching him how to do the swerve and avoid which prevented a serious accident from occurring. Unlike aware Mr. Banda, Tim has noticed that all four of the remaining nominees suffer from a lack of focus which is a large part of the reason for their respective bad driving history and which could be improved by using the technique of the running commentary: saying everything out loud about what is relevant to them while behind the wheel. The first challenge is the know your limits challenge, where they must do a slalom at 70kph with the barriers around which they will slalom being forty meters apart, this course which should be easily doable. They then will be given another opportunity to do the course again with whatever distance between the barriers they choose, to see if they truly understand their driving limits, thus not placing themselves in unnecessary dangerous situations on the road in the real world. The second challenge is the cross, where in an enclosed corral, the nominees will have to back into each of the four spokes set at right angles in the corral. The third challenge, which Andrew considers the most difficult to master of all the regular challenges, is the icy corner, where the nominees have to reach a speed of 50kph before hitting a simulated icy patch, out of which they must turn ninety degrees to the left to avoid hitting a wall straight ahead. Going into the panel deliberation, the experts face an unprecedented scenario of having the three finalists decided for them. The question becomes whether the fourth nominee should join the other three in next week's finale, or whether he/she should graduate this week.
Mon, Dec 3, 2018
With no one graduating after the most recent panel deliberation for the third time of only five deliberations this season, five nominees remain at the Centre. Andrew discusses how brain functioning is a large cause of the bad driving for those five - with at least two having been diagnosed with some sort of clinical mental health issue - highlighting the importance of Shyamala's role on the panel in helping them become better drivers. Two of the three challenges this week focus on the skill of pedal control. The first is the annual teeter-totter challenge where the nominees each have fifteen minutes to balance a vehicle on a teeter-totter without falling to one side or the other. The third is the annual water tank challenge, with two hundred liters of water in the tank which has the potential to fall on top of the nominees and their nominators depending on how poorly they maneuver through the course, which this year includes a straightway section in which the drivers must reach a speed of 60kph, a precision steering section, a parking lot section with the potential of unexpected hazards, a turnaround corral section which is entered forward and exited in reverse, and a reverse slalom section. After being taught the skill by Philippe, the nominees embark on the second challenge which is to do a hand brake J-turn aka a one hundred eighty degree spin-out in an enclosed space, each having up to five attempts. Much of the focus this week is on Karlene and her ultimate driving goal of feeling comfortable enough to drive on the highway by herself. Karlene goes through some extreme emotional highs and lows this week which results in her really wanting to go home. One of the questions then becomes if the panel, especially Tim who has taken her on public drives, and Karlene are on the same page of if she has reached the goal she wants to achieve.
Mon, Nov 8, 2010
With Scott Schurink being the first to leave the Drivers' Rehabilitation Centre this season, albeit by being expelled in part because his nominator Danny, who previously insured Scott, decided to pull that insurance due to Scott's unwillingness to take responsibility for his bad driving (making Scott only the second person ever to be expelled), seven participants remain at the Centre. Their first challenge, using a four wheel drive jeep, is to make a three point turn on a moat surrounded island, taking as many tries as needed within a twenty minute time limit. If a participant goes into the moat and cannot drive back out, he/she automatically fails the challenge. Some are able to complete the challenge, some can't do it in three points within the twenty minutes, and some do end up stuck in the moat. Before the second challenge, Peter provides each a lesson in driving a manual transmission vehicle. Only two of the seven have never driven a stick shift vehicle. That second challenge is to balance a stick shift vehicle on a teeter-totter. Not understanding the actual mechanics, several participants end up burning out the clutch. Before the third challenge, Philippe provides a lesson on threshold braking to be able to steer out of a braking situation in vehicles without ABS. The participants are required to drive around a turn at high speed while braking for the challenge. Before the panel deliberation, the seven participants assess their own driving skill and state if they feel they are ready for graduation. No one feels they have learned enough to leave. The panel have only one person for consideration for graduation. Will they graduate that person or abide by the wishes of all and graduate no one?
Mon, Nov 12, 2012
With Robert Cardenas being named the first graduate of the season, seven nominees remain at the Centre. Those seven are given an examination of street signs, at which most are inept. As many of the nominees have a problem of driving while trying to multitask, they are then told to drive a course while doing several other tasks behind the wheel. Their first true challenge is the annual eye of the needle challenge at which they are to drive at 70 kph, which ends up being an issue for some in looking at their speedometer while at the same time driving the course. These first two driving challenges result in three of the worst exhibitions of driving ever at the Centre, with one perhaps being the scariest and potentially the most tragic. The last challenge is to reverse a school bus through a figure eight course, which teaches the nominees the importance of using their mirrors. While talking to the panel, only one nominee feels ready to graduate. Although that nominee is on the short list of two, that person does not receive the most votes. Will the panel graduate the person who feels ready to leave, or the person they feel deserves to leave?
Mon, Sep 26, 2005
Eight Canadians are introduced as Canada's eight worst drivers, one who will ultimately be named Canada's Worst Driver. They are placed under a series of driving challenges under winter road conditions. The eight participants and their primary driving problems are: David Chau, who takes no responsibility by blaming his bad driving on the bad advice from his passengers; Bob Coad, an aggressive driver who has to "win" at any cost, such as when playing bumper tag on the highway; Chris Ferguson, who can only do one thing at a time behind the wheel; Madalena Phillips, who takes what she considers the easy way out in whatever she does to the point of carelessness; Heather Reynolds, who is confused on the road; Tatiana Rheaume, who is terrified of traffic and is even more terrified of left turns; Faith-Ann Stone, a speed demon who feels her bad driving is genetic; and Manuel Tejeda, who gets caught up in details and misses the big picture. Given a set of directions, their first test with their nominator as their passenger is to drive individually to the Driver Rehabilitation Centre at a decommissioned military base in Picton, Ontario, they needing to check in at various points along their circuitous route. Two of the participants have an extremely dangerous road race with each other en route. Once at the Centre, their second test is to brake at high speed to avoid hitting a wall in front of them. The challenge is as much to test braking reaction as it is to see who has a mind of their own while on the road. Following, all eight participants face the expert panel for the first time. All eight are given a failing grade.