'Canada's Worst Driver' Review: Are These The Lowest Of The Low? 'Canada's Worst Driver' is a maddening and alarming hour of television, but he makes it enjoyable and fun to watch.

'Welcome to the country'smost disturbing car show.'
Andrew Younghusband, opening season 5.

A Canadian Reality Show which focuses on rehabilitating the worst drivers in The Moose And Maple, as nominated by their friends and family members. The object of the show is essentially to learn enough about proper driving in order to 'graduate' from rehab, done in the form of different challenges meant to build specific driving skills. The winner (or should we say loser) in the end is crowned the titular 'worst driver', and often receives an equally crappy looking trophy.

While the show's goals are serious, a lot of it is mainly Played for Laughs. Yes, there are Asian Drivers. Yes, there are Women Drivers. They're no worse than the other contestants. The show started in September 2005 and is still ongoing, having wrapped up its seventh season in December 2011.

• The Alleged Car: Mike from Season 5 bought these exclusively.
  • Over the course, Season 6 managed to turn a nice new 2010 Chevrolet Camaro into one.
    • At least it still runs well.
  • Again, Season 7 with a used Dodge Challenger painted in a Canadian Theme. You can guess what happened to the motif. It got so bad, that they gave it a funeral during the season finale.
• Asian Drivers: Not that they're any worse than their fellow contestants.
  • Jason, Season 3 winner
  • Emily, Season 4 runner-up
  • Arun, Season 5's last graduate (who is from India, not the far east as per the stereotype)
  • Shelby, Season 3 runner-up might fit also.
• Backseat Driver: Sometimes this show looks more like Canada's Worst Passenger. This trope goes to its Logical Extreme when said backseat driver grabs for the controls of the car (usually the wheel). Yes, there IS a law against that--specifically, a law that states that when a passenger grabs the wheel, the passenger assumes full responsibility for whatever they make the vehicle do. When the show hires a relationship therapist, this is clearly a serious problem.
• Badass Biker: Paul from Season 6 and his nominator Tommy are the first to arrive at the rehab center on two, rather than four, wheels. Of course, Paul was sent to the show because he had a fear of driving 4-wheeled automobiles. He was able to quickly overcome his fears of driving, and was the first graduate of the season. Fittingly, he also had the most magnificent facial hair of any contestant too!
• Badass Driver: Some of the contestants think they're this--which is why they are mentioned under Drives Like Crazy. Some of the judges are this, including:
  • Philippe Létourneau (high performance instructor from season 2 onward), former race car driver and professional diving instructor.
  • Dr. Louisa Gembora (psychologist for seasons 4 and 5), who is a race car driver and psychologist
  • Dr. Lauren Kennedy-Smith (psychologist for season 6), also a psychologist and race car driver
  • Andrew himself might be turning into one after (as of October 2011) 7 seasons of demonstrating challenges.
• Badass Long Hair: Again, Paul. He had arguably the longest hair of any contestant from any of the seasons.
• Belief Makes You Stupid: Played with in Season 7. Afiya tried to justify her dangerous habits by saying that angels were protecting her car. This became fodder for some of Andrew's narration, but he and the experts never attacked her faith, instead focusing on the need for her to develop better driving skills and habits.
• The Big Guy: Former police Sgt. Cam Woolley is a large man. His no-nonsense stare, intolerance of lawbreakers and his position as a former traffic cop make him a guy you don't want to piss off.
  • Paul and Tommy from Season 6 showed another side of this trope when they had troubles fitting in the cars.
• Blind Without'Em: Some contestants have a condition on their driver's license requiring them to wear adequate corrective lenses (such as glasses or contact lenses). The only time a point is made of this is when the contestant fails to do so--which is worryingly common.
• Camera Abuse: Cameras are sent flying several times a season. The producers seldom let the resulting footage go unaired.
• Canada, Eh?: Played straight by Season 7, as most of the challenges are themed around Canada in mostly stereotypical manners. A swerving challenge had a moose as its target, there was a Car Curling game, doughnuts were brought up for the donuts challenge (as in the spinning a car in circles-type of donuts), etc.
• Captain Crash: The drivers sent to rehab for recklessness or obliviousness tend to be this. A number of them have wrecked so many cars that they've lost count. Andrew will sometimes comment that these drivers are lucky to be alive.
• Car Meets House: Occasionally played straight by contestants in their past experience. And in Season Four, which was held at a closed jail, there was an onscreen case of Laundry Truck Meets Prison.
  • Dale managed to do this with a garage--specifically, she drove through the door. Not the doorway, the door, which was closed at the time.
• Casual Danger Dialog: The host at times. 'When we come back, Father Giles nearly kills me.'
• Catch Phrase: 'Look where you want to go' is perhaps the single most important lesson of the show, and thus is repeated a lot.
  • After demonstrating each challenge (to prove that an average driver can do them), Andrew tells the camera, 'now, let's see how Canada's worst drivers do.'
• Censor Box (Parodied): a stop sign appears over the contestants' mouth whenever they swear (along with accompanying bleep). Punk rocker Jakob from Season 5 got an anarchy symbol instead.
• Cerebus Rollercoaster: The show has a serious point, but most of it's Played for Laughs. And if you think it's really funny--meet Aaron, or rather, what's left of him after a serious car crash. Photos of him in the hospital were in every episode of Season 7.
• Chronically Crashed Car: Every single car ON the show, and most that the drivers have used as well.
• Clip Show: Season 3 was accompanied by a clip show detailing the top 101 problems on Canadian roads, as demonstrated by that season's contestants.
• Clothing Damage: An interesting variation. In Season 6, Lance started out as dapper as could be. At the end, he looked like a slob, wearing a torn wifebeater and some face stubble.
• Cloudcuckoolander/The Ditz: Some of the contestants are shockingly clueless. These are arguably the scariest type of bad driver.
• The Cobbler's Children Have No Shoes: Dale (Season 6's runner-up) had an extensive history of ignoring traffic rules and bumping things despite her husband being a driving instructor.
• Completely Missing the Point: While the show's point is making bad drivers better, 'Let us graduate and we promise we'll never drive again' was a line often heard on the first season. Not so much later seasons, though.
  • Father Giles in Shopping Cart Hockey--the intent is to teach control while moving fast. Father Giles barely got above 10 km/h. he also was the only one to score a goal, aside from Andrew Younghusband himself.
• Cool Car: Many challenges (often ones that require the use of speed and control) will often use fancy cars, mainly of the classic variety.
  • This got to the point where people pleaded with the producers to stop using classic cars on the show. So for Season 6, they instead bought a nice shiny new Camaro! You can guess what happened to it.
  • For the 2011 season, they instead bought a used 2009 Dodge Challenger R/T, customized with a Canadian flag paint job to go with the Canada, Eh? theme of the season
• Decided by One Vote: With only 5 judges, tie-breaking votes happen a lot.
  • Occasionally averted entirely when one candidate does way better than all the rest (and all agree that the candidate should leave), or when only one judge dissents (in Season 5, all judges agreed that Angelina should be the worst driver, save for Cam Woolley who named Mike Butt instead.)
• Directionless Driver: And it's both genders.
• Distracted by the Sexy: When Andrew asked one contestant how she passed her driving test (she was, amongst other things, unable to parallel park), her answer? 'Flirt!' He really hoped her instructor was watching the show.
• Downer Ending
  • Donna from Season 4 turned out to have a heart ailment and had to leave the show.
  • Crystal from Season 5 was permitted to leave after her brother-in-law was killed in a driving accident.
• Drives Like Crazy: Seriously, what part of 'Canada's Worst Driver' do you not understand? At least two in every season, and waaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy too many to count these days.
  • In the show's opening, there's a car that drives like this. Its license plate reads 'XLR8N'.
  • In Season 1, Faith Ann Stone was a speed freak who was nominated by 4 people--all acting independantly.
  • In Season 2, Sean's vanity plate literally read 'SPEEED'. Boy did fellow contestant Michael get some mileage out of that.
  • In Season 3, Thomas Hobbs was an aspiring street racer. Street racing is a criminal offence in Canada.
  • In Season 4--speaking of street races--Ashley and Ken actually got into one on the way to the rehab center! Remember what was said about this being criminal? They nearly got the show shut down.
  • In Season 6, Scott and Dean both drove 50 km/h (30 mph) over the limit and were ordered by the camera crews to stop the trip altogether.
  • In Season 7, Afiya had to pull over for going over 50 km/h over the limit while Jon would have been stopped if there had been a crew member in the car.^[1]
• Driving Stick: Stick shifts are brought frequently. This trope is played as straight as you please every time, with ground gears, burned clutches, and the works.
  • That being said, some drivers have had no problems. The most recent subversion was Badass Biker^[2] Paul from Season Six, who completed a challenge involving balancing a stick-shift car on a teeter-totter almost as quickly as Andrew did and with not a lick more damage to the car.

Paul: (from almost completely level car) How's that?
Andrew (narrating): 'That' is perfect!

• • On the other hand, everyone else was so bad that five cars brought out for the challenge had the clutches burned out--the last person had to be exempted because they didn't have a sixth!
    • Perhaps this is why there was no manual transmission challenge in Season 7.
• Drunk Driver: Sadly, some of the contestants have indeed done this.
• Dude, Not Funny--In-Universe examples:
  • Colin from Season 2 took none of the show seriously. It resulted in him getting expelled, his car towed, and his keys destroyed.
  • Andrew knew about the street race mentioned under Drives Like Crazy, as the drives are always filmed. He was pissed.
  • In Season 6, Scott found his own bad driving amusing. Danny, his nominator and the guy who paid for Scott's insurance, didn't, and his disgust is quite visible. In the second episode, Danny finally got fed up, tore Scott a new one and cancelled the insurance policy. This meant Scott was no longer a valid driver, which caused him to be expelled from the show--the first time that a contestant has been effectively expelled by his own nominator.
  • Later during the same season, Dale's idea of a joke was to attempt to run Andrew over. This got her a real yelling at from Andrew and her nominator, and she unbelievably tried to accuse them of having no sense of humor over the issue (though she later apologized for her actions).
  • A subversion: Crystal stopped finding her own driving habits funny after her brother-in-law Tom Stagno died in a traffic accident.
• Due to the Dead: The episode in which Crystal learned of her brother-in-law Tom Stagno's death was dedicated to the deceased, and the credits were silent.
• Dumb Blonde: Just about anyone with fair hair can qualify, but especially Angelina, the Season 5 winner. Dale, from Season 6, thought a sign forbade a U-turn. She was being shown a sign that meant 'Tourist Information Ahead', which is a brown sign with a question mark--which she then thought represented a road and the dot at the end the actual information center.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Invoked. You have to work at improving to graduate.
• Early Installment Weirdness: Two things stand out for Season 1: First, it was held during the winter, not the summer. Second, no Cam Woolley, who joined during Season 2 and has been there ever since.
• Epic Fail:
  • Scott and Dean from Season 6 weren't allowed to finish their drive to the rehab center, which is the very first challenge in the series.
  • Likewise, Afiya from Season 7 sped so much that the cameraman ordered a stop. Not only that, she hit an obstacle even before leaving the parking garage where the drive began. Jon would have been stopped if he had been accompanied by a cameraman (the Corvette he drove to rehab didn't have enough seats to seat a cameraman).
  • Being the first contestant to be kicked off of anyWorst Driver show in the world: (Colin from Season Two)
  • Getting kicked off the show -- in the second episode (Scott from Season Six set the record for fastest expulsion.)
  • Getting kicked off the show -- by your own nominator (Scott from Season Six, when his nominator Danny cancelled his insurance.)
  • Angelina from Season 5 failed a staggering 22 out of 23 challenges on her way to 'winning' the show. As an indication of just how terrible that is, bear in mind that Colin from Season 2 deliberately tried to fail every challenge during his time on the show... and still managed to pass two challenges prior to getting ejected.
  • The Water Tank Challenge usually floods the interior of the car. Dean from Season Six, however, managed to flood the car's engine with a hard stop after the first straightaway. He didn't even get to the precision driving parts.
  • In some challenges, obstacles are carved and painted styrofoam. On at least two occasions, they've run out of obstacles before the nominees can complete the challenges.
• 'Everybody Laughs' Ending: Father Giles and Guy--his brother and nominator--walked away from the Water Tank Challenge laughing after Father Giles stated he thought he did fairly well. He did: although he got soaked, he didn't collide with anything.
• Everything's Better with Llamas: The first 'drive to the rehabilitation centre' challenge ever, had a checkpoint at an Alpaca farm.
• Friend to All Living Things: Lauri from Season 7 ... when its not affecting her performance of course! (She was shown driving with a car filled with additional 'passengers', mainly pets.)
• Ghost Town: Season 3 was held in Edgar, a ghost town in Ontario.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Some drivers have absolutely no control over their road rage.
• Hypocritical Humor: In the first episode of season 5, Father Giles recites a prayer for safe driving that explicitly ends with 'so that we may concentrate on the road'. Cut to the good father being distracted by a sign indicating the 'World's Largest Pumpkin'.
  • During Sly's final public drive in the season 7 finale, someone tried to take a picture of the test car with a cell phone camera while driving.
• Inspirationally Disadvantaged: Aaron from Season 7 is a Type C, as he does have a positive influence on the other nominees. He even Invoked it by refusing to graduate so that his condition (he has to walk with a cane and has difficulty speaking, amongst other things) would continue to remind the other candidates of the dangers of bad driving. He happily subverted Too Good for This Sinful Earth with his graduation in the last episode. He also subverted it--Aaron was an absolutely terrible driver himself.
• Karma Houdini: Scott may never face charges for his literally criminal driving. However...
• Laser-Guided Karma: Scott's insurance was yanked by his roommate, who got fed up with him. And in 2010, he was arrested for drug trafficking.
• Loophole Abuse: The 'Cool Bus', a school bus that was modified to skirt the driving restrictions on standard driver's licenses. Andrew can't believe that taking out most of the seats, painting it so it doesn't look like a school bus (it was painted purple), and altering the sign on it (as demonstrated) is enough that anyone with a standard license can drive it, and it doesn't even have seat belts.
• Malaproper: Angelina from Season 5 did this a lot. Near the very end of the season, after being repeatedly told that she should never, ever drive again, she repeatedly and angrily told Andrew that 'I'm not not driving!'
• Medal of Dishonor: The title 'Canada's Worst Driver' and the crappy trophy the 'winner' gets at the end.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Father Giles, in a panic, hit the throttle instead of the brake, sending the car careening off the course. Upon looking at the results, he stated 'What a disaster' in honest dismay.
  • Mike Butt had an even bigger moment of this in the last episode of the season, when he nearly ran over an old lady who was crossing an intersection. It eventually led to him concluding he didn't deserve to drive, and cutting up his licence in front of the experts' panel.
• Nervous Wreck: These show up a lot. They're as scary as road ragers and ditzes.
  • In Season 6, Lance had a panic attack during the final challenge (drive through Niagra Falls), and was taken away in an ambulance.
• Non Gameplay Elimination: Four in the past seven seasons:
  • Season 2: Colin Sheppard deliberately performed so poorly in every test that he was expelled from Driver Rehab in the fourth episode. All participants relinquish their car keys upon arrival and are returned when they graduate; Colin's keys were destroyed and his vehicle towed back to his hometown. Host Andrew Younghusband remarked 'Let's hope Colin loses his license before his life.'
  • Season 4: Donna Hicks was sent home in the fourth episode after exceptionally poor performance coupled with an angina attack. Donna was convinced that she could drive, despite all evidence to the contrary. The province of Ontario reviewed her driver's license after the show; whether or not it was revoked was not stated.
  • Season 5: Crystal Hubley-Fararo left in the fifth episode after learning that her brother-in-law had been killed in a vehicular collision. A video retrospective of the rest of the rehab subjects revealed that they consistently failed to yield, the same behaviour that got Crystal's brother-in-law killed.
  • Season 6: Scott Shurink was expelled in the second episode after revealing on-camera his numerous undocumented vehicular crimes: more than just excessive speeding (which ended his first test in the first episode), he drove while drunk, while suspended, and used his friend's license. Said friend immediately cancelled the vehicle insurance Scott needed to drive, while resident traffic law expert and retired OPP sergeant Cam Wooley contacted the Calgary police with this information.
• Normal People: Andrew Younghusband says he's an average driver. He may be turning into a subversion, as seven seasons of demonstrating the challenges have honed his driving skills.
• Not Making This Up Disclaimer: Andrew Younghusband and others insist the drivers really are this bad and are not actors.
  • After Angelina destroys half the obstacles and almost melts the truck's engine on season 5's Eye of the Needle challenge:

Andrew (narrating): For the millionth time, (the words 'Real Driver' appear on screen) Angelina is not an actor.

• Once a Season: Several tasks recur every year:
  • The initial challenge, where the contestants must follow directions to drive themselves to the Rehab Centre (sometimes while running errands too, especially during earlier seasons)
  • The Assessment Course - A grab-bag of obstacles designed to measure how bad the bad drivers really are.
    • Book Ends - The second-last challenge is the 'Mega Challenge': a obstacle course designed to test everything the bad drivers have learned up until this point. It also looks rather a lot like the Assessment Course, with some additions (like the J-Turn and Doughnut Challenge)
  • The 'Eye of the Needle' challenge, a slalom course where the contestants must drive through a series of arches at a minimum speed. The aim is to teach the drivers the recurring moral of their story: look where you want to go.
  • Then of course, the infamous Water Tank Challenge, where the contestants must drive a course intended to traversed as smoothly as possible ... since the car they drive it in is rigged with a tank of water that will spill straight onto them through the sunroof!
  • Two episodes occurs where no-one graduates. Of course, no-one ever graduates in the first (according to the rules of the show), but there has always been one other where the judges decide to make everyone stay (sometimes because the graduates don't want to go!) This has resulted in three people being in the final episode of each season.
• One Judge to Rule Them All: Near the end of season 7, Afiya is unanimously chosen by the experts to graduate, but Andrew is unconvinced. During the narration, Andrew implies that as the host who gives the drivers their licenses back, he might overrule the experts and not give Afiya's license back. Whether or not he has such a power (if he does, he's never used it), he relents and Afiya graduates.
• Parking Problems: Driving problems, really.
• Parallel Parking: Goes about as well as you'd expect, especially when the drivers have to parallel park a Winnebago.
  • Shannon from season 2 provided a surprising subversion in a different challenge where she was driving down a narrow dirt road and faced an ambulance, then performed an S-curve to get out of its way. After the challenge was over, she was proud of her S-curve, and then Andrew pointed out that she was actually parallel parking.
• Point and Laugh Show: To a certain extent, but the point is quite serious: Take bad drivers and make them better.
• Preacher Man: Father Giles from Season Five is a Roman Catholic priest. He considered his time on the show a spiritual journey as well as a learning opportunity, and was genuinely happy to have gone through all this.
• Precision F-Strike: Some of Donna's more colorful language in the Season 6 finale was left unbleeped.
• Prison: Season 4 was held in the Guelph Correctional Center in Ontario (the jail had been closed in 2001). Four drivers who had committed literally criminal driving offenses were locked up for a few hours:
  • Donna, who admitted to driving drunk
  • Teagan, for committing hit and runs
  • Ashley and Ken, for engaging in a street race on the way to the show.
• Redemption Rejection: Two contestants (Colin from Season 2 and Scott from Season 6) were thrown off the show for not taking things seriously enough and refusing to learn. Colin was the first to be expelled from any Driver Rehabilitation Center in the world.
• Take a Third Option: Not every episode has ended in graduation.
  • Colin (Season 2) and Scott (Season 6) were expelled from the show (and therefore did not graduate). Scott, as mentioned above, set the record for fastest expulsion: he was thrown off in the second episode.
  • Donna (Season 4) was sent home due to medical reasons.
  • Crystal (Season 5) was sent home out of sympathy after her brother-in-law was killed in a car accident (there was no graduate that episode).
  • If nobody does well enough to graduate, the judges may decide to make everyone stay. This happens once a season, but has itself been subverted twice. In both Seasons 5 and 6, when the contestants were asked if they deserved or wanted to graduate, each one said no. The Season 5 requests was the first time it had happened in any of the Driver Rehabilitation Programs (there are several similar shows in other countries). Both times, their wishes were honoured.
  • In the sixth episode of Season 2, there came about a fourth option: both Sean and Jodi were considered to be fully rehabilitated (Sean of his speed addiction, Jodi of her fear), and both graduated. To be fair, nobody had graduated in Episode 5 (It would have been Sean, had he admitted that slower was safer).
• Spin-Off: Canadas Worst Handyman, takes much of the same concepts, but applies them to home renovation. It's just as bad.
• Sure Why Not: Season 5's Mike Butt talked about a driving game called Shopping Cart Hockey, where you pushed a shopping cart with a car. It was used as a challenge. Season 6 had something similar with a soccer ball, and Season 7 used oversized curling rocks.
• Take That: Andrew has stated that in the show's early seasons, many were nominated out of spite. Things have changed since.
  • In the Season 5 finale, right before Angelina was to go through the Mega-Challenge, there's a pixelated image of the 'Start' sign with an image of Angelina slid over it such that the 'S' was covered.
  • When introducing the Canada's Worst Parking lot challenge in Season 7, episode 5:

Andrew:...what they don't know is that...other annoying cars will be getting in their way stealing spots, honking horns, and generally carrying on like, well, Americans.

• Tear Jerker--In-Universe examples: While many contestants break down in tears quite frequently, there are other times when they've been struck by truly tragic events.
  • The death of Crystal's brother-in-law Tom Stagno--in a vehicle accident.
  • For Wil from Season Five it was learning just how verbally abusive he was. Melissa, his nominee, later stated he cried for a quarter of an hour.
  • Aaron, from Season 7, was nearly killed by a distracted driver six years prior to the taping. Every year one of the challenges is a distracted driving course, where the nominees must drive a simple course while distracted (from eating, drinking, smoking, texting, et cetera). The purpose is to show them just how dangerous distracted driving can be. In Season 7, the drivers (excluding Aaron) had to do this course, and after seeing just how bad distractions make them, they had to look Aaron in the eye and promise to never drive distracted again.
• Tears of Fear: Several drivers are absolutely terrified of driving, to the point where a few broke down and cried.
• Tears of Joy: Amy-Lee of Season 4, cried with happiness when she became the last graduate.
• Tempting Fate: Andrew Younghusband has allowed his own vehicle to be used from time to time (for example, Teagan drove it to the rehabilitation center). Subverted in that Fate hasn't shown up to collect...yet.
• That One Level--again, In-Universe: The most disliked challenge of all is the water tank challenge. You have to skillfully drive a car with a large tank of water (200 liters or about 50 gallons) fastened on top, with pipes that will direct any sloshed water onto the driver. The idea is to drive as smoothly as possible, to avoid getting drenched. It is pretty much impossible to complete the course without getting some water dumped on you--even Andrew always gets some water dumped on him and (I think in season 5) he took a hazard too fast and got drenched.
  • In Season Six, there was a challenge that involved maneuvering a trailer with a boat on it through a narrow laneway of rims and then launching it. Much profanity ensued.
• That Poor Car: Except we actually see what happens to them.
• There Should Be a Law: Andrew Younghusband and Cam Woolley have stated that they think it's silly how much a standard driving license covers. Cam Woolley has stated he's amazed that someone can get their driving license in a Smart Car (which is very tiny) and immediately hop into a motorhome several times a Smart Car's length. Note Loophole Abuse above to see what else is legal to drive.
• Too Dumb to Live: The utterly clueless behaviour of some of the drivers does indeed pose a risk to life and limb.
• Trans Atlantic Equivalent: The show itself (along with several others) is a spinoff of Britains Worst Driver.
  • Went the other way during the Season 7, Episode 6 opener, when Andrew mentioned the Dutch Equivalent; the host of that show got struck by the car a contestent was driving.
• Watch the Paint Job: They never do... About the worst example would be the contestants burning out the clutches of five cars. The last contestant was exempted because the producers were out of cars.
• What an Idiot! (In-Universe): 'This guy's an idiot!' said by Cam Wooley about Colin from Season 2. While his remark is based on Colin's driving, the other reasons viewers may agree with Mr. Wooley are under the YMMV tab.
• Wiper Start:
  • Michael, when trying to start his car to drive to the rehab center in Season 2, popped the hood instead.
    • Also in Season 2, Karen did a literal Wiper Start.
  • One driver (Jason from Season 3?) started Andrew's truck 3 times--though it was already running. Andrew winced every time.
• Women Drivers: Well, the women on this show qualify. On the other hand, so do the men.
• Worth It: Many of the graduates have left glad to have been on the show.
• Your Other Left: Whenever contestants take a challenge together, this trope is on full display.
  • During the 5th season all the drivers were put into the same limo together and had to take turns driving the limo backwards around a course. Advice was shouted and this trope ensued.
  • If you count cases when it's the backseat-driving passenger shouting advice, this happens just about every season.

Notes

1. ↑His car was too small to fit both his nominator and a cameraman.
2. ↑Motorcycles have manual transmissions as well

Canada's Worst Driver 5 was the fifth season of the Canadianreality TV show Canada's Worst Driver, which aired on the Discovery Channel. As with previous years, 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, the military base previously used as the rehab centre for Canada's Worst Driver 2; however, it is only referred to on-air as an 'undisclosed military location.' The focus of this season was on Driver's Boot Camp. The series launch was set to coincide with the launch of a new law in Ontario prohibiting the use of handheld electronic devices while driving. Similar bans have been instituted in Atlantic Canada and Quebec, with Manitoba and Saskatchewan considering similar laws. The initial drive started in Barrie, Ontario and the final road test occurred in Toronto, Ontario for the second year in a row and third in the last four seasons. This season will also be the second to be featured on the iTunes Store and the first to have new episodes one day after first airing.

Canada's Worst Driver Crystal

• 3Synopsis

Experts[edit]

Three experts return from Canada's Worst Driver 4, though Dan Bagyan, head instructor from the past season, is not among them.

• Cam Woolley is the show's longest-serving expert, having been present in every season except the first and has seen the habits of Canadian drivers change drastically since 2000, with the most common offense having changed from DUI to distracted driving. He is the traffic expert on CP24 in Toronto and had a 25-year career as a traffic sergeant with the Ontario Provincial Police.
• Philippe Létourneau is a veteran high-speed driving instructor who counts BMW and Ferrari among his clients. Since joining the show in Canada's Worst Driver 3, the average car has gained considerably in speed and acceleration, with the high-speed emphasis of this season making his job a particularly important one.
• Dr. Louisa Gembora has been in private practice since 1994 and has been in the psychology field since 1980. In her off-time, she drives a single-seat race car.
• Peter Mellor is the new head instructor this season who is with the Advanced Motoring Bureau and is the host of Wheel Base, a Canadian syndicated driving program. A graduate of the Jim Russell Racing School and the Ferrari and BMW driver training programs, he is dedicated to the 'art of driving.'

Contestants[edit]

• Michael 'Mike' Butt, 28 and licensed for 12 years, from Regina, Saskatchewan, has had 11 vehicles and has asked others to drive cars in reverse for him. His brother-in-law, Jodie Burkholder, is the only one in his family who believes driving skill is not hereditary and he is willing to go into rehab with Mike to prove his point. He drives a black beat-up Buick Century and drove a red Ford Focus to the rehabilitation centre. Mike is the nephew of comedian/actor Brent Butt.^[1]
• Melissa Cook, 32 and licensed for 15 months, from Saint John, New Brunswick, is a mother whose problems are twofold—one is that she has never had formal driver's education and it shows when she constantly drives 20 km/h under the speed limit. The other is her common-law husband, Wil Fawcett, who verbally abuses her when she is driving. She drives a silver Pontiac Grand Prix and drove a silver Ford Taurus to the rehab centre.
• Crystal Hubley Farao, 46 and licensed for two years, from Windsor, Ontario, has had 11 reported major accidents on the road, including one occasion in which she caused $15,000 damage in her car, only to cause another major accident in a rental car while her car was being replaced. This is partly because, aside from the fact that she has 20/120 vision in her right eye, she is extremely distracted, as she appears to be severely addicted to her cell phone. Though she has been nominated by eight separate people, a record for the series, her ex-sister-in-law and business partner, Theresa Farao, accompanied her to rehab. She drives a black Pontiac G6 GT convertible.
• Father Giles Joly, 56, from Richmond, Ontario, is a Roman Catholic priest who is too conservative on the road: on major highways, he has only driven the full 110 km/h limit once in his lifetime. His brother, Guy Joly, wants him in rehab to help him get more confidence. He drives a silver Ford Freestar.
• Joanna 'JoJo' Kopty, 19 and licensed for two years, from Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Quebec (near Montreal), is on the limit of her demerit points—she's had 13 accidents, including backing her mother's car into her father's car. Her friend, Nima, wants her in rehab to avoid another episode where the two were hospitalized as a result of an accident. She drives a black Honda Civic.
• Angelina Marcantognini, 26, from Sudbury, Ontario, is a recently licensed 'stay-at-home girlfriend' who has had many fender benders. Her best friend, Christine Latondress Andrews, wants her in rehab for her own good; her unsafe driving has led her to drive when the two are going out together. She drives a beige Pontiac Sunfire.
• Jakob Poirier, 25 and licensed for nine years, from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, is a punk rocker whose road rage has led to 12 major accidents. When on tour, his band, 'Slaveclass,' no longer allows him to drive. He has been nominated by his girlfriend, Stacey Fitzsimmons. He drives a white Chevrolet Blazer and drove a black Ford Escape to the rehab centre.
• Arun Suryanarayanan, 25 and licensed for six years, from Windsor, Ontario, is a mechanical engineering student and an immigrant from Mumbai who has yet to be accustomed to the rules of driving on Canadian roads, having moved to Canada in 2005. His wife, Sanah Shaheen, wants him in rehab to get rid of his habit of driving in the middle of two lanes and taking up two parking spots when parking. He drives a blue Pontiac Grand Am and drove an orange Chevrolet Cobalt to the rehab centre.

Synopsis[edit]

(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.

(WD) The contestant withdrew for compassionate/personal reasons.

^1 Non-Elimination Week, due to all contestants wanting to remain at the Driver Rehabilitation Centre.

Episode 1: Basic Training[edit]

Original Airdate: October 26, 2009

• The Drive to Rehab: This season, the journey to the Driver Rehabilitation Centre starts from Minet's Point Park in Barrie, Ontario, with the eight drivers heading to rehab using a provided set of instructions, a journey that Andrew notes is an hour-long drive that includes following a list of 50 turns. The contestants depart in the following order: Melissa, Father Giles, Jojo, Mike, Arun, Crystal, Angelina and Jakob. Everyone makes a large number of moving violations on the way to rehab and the contestants arrive in the following order: Melissa (who endured 64 insults from Wil), Father Giles (never at the speed limit the whole trip), Mike (despite stopping for directions), Jojo (speeding the whole way), Crystal, Jakob, Arun and Angelina (wildly off-course after making the wrong first turn).
• Silver Shadow Challenge: Basic Assessment: The skills evaluation is performed in a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow vehicle this year and involves a tight reverse course, before turning the car forward inside a concrete box and driving into a 45 km/h slalom before crossing a white line and braking, stopping in front of a wall. Mike, going first, gets stuck in reverse (and was excused from the box because of it) and fishtails out of control in the slalom. Crystal fails her slalom due to holding a cigarette in her hand and thus having one hand off the steering wheel. Jojo has no issues in reverse or in turning the car forward, but hits the slalom obstacles repeatedly. Angelina is the first to hit the car inside the box and hits the slalom obstacles going half the required speed. Arun hits the very first obstacle going into the reverse portion and fishtails out of control on the slalom. Melissa goes the entire course with strong verbal abuse from Wil and Wil going as far as to abandon her in the concrete box. Worst of all, she hits the wall in the end. Father Giles hits obstacles on the way to the slalom, where he never makes it above 40 km/h. Finally, Jakob learns firsthand the trademark difficulty of the challenges, as he gets stuck in the concrete box and nearly rolls the car over in the slalom, in a course that he originally dismissed as 'easy.' In the evaluations, Mike and Jakob admit to not as being skilled as they had originally thought, while everyone else is taught harsh lessons by the drivers. As usual, no one graduates this episode, as it serves merely as a skills evaluation.

Discovery Channel's web extras for this episode:

• Jakob: Punk or Poseur? - Jakob, in the confessional, trashes Andrew while discussing his own attitude issues and the fact that he admits that all eight contestants are bad drivers, but then retracts his trash-talk when he fears that Andrew will retaliate based on his comments the next day.
• Crystal - Crystal, in the confessional, discusses her past driving history and her distractions behind the wheel. Like Jakob, she gives her first impressions on Andrew.
• Arun - Arun, in the confessional, admits that he had failed to notice that his handbrake had been on or five minutes during his first drive and how he had not worn seat belts before due to 'cramping his style.' However, he is optimistic about learning at the Driver Rehabilitation Centre.

Episode 2: Standard Manoeuvres[edit]

Original Airdate: November 2, 2009

• The Shoulder Check Challenge: To teach shoulder checking, contestants must speed down a straightaway at 70 km/h, and check on both sides to see if the signs are green or red and, if necessary, take an appropriate turn at a fork in the road ahead. Contestants have only one attempt at this challenge. Jakob is the first to pass after stopping at the fork when he is faced with reds on both sides. Jojo passes facing a left-side green. Crystal and Arun hit the side of the road, while Mike, Melissa and Angelina all plow into the fork in the road. As for Father Giles, he goes too slow and does not make his exit, leading Andrew to teach him how to accelerate to 120 km/h (so high it is over the speed limit everywhere in Canada).
• Medical Exam: All contestants are required to take a medical exam this season. Melissa has the best reaction time, while the person with the slowest reaction time and the poorest vision is, not surprisingly, Father Giles.
• Stick Shift Parallel Park: The contestants must drive a Mercedes-Benz G-Class, a standard transmission vehicle, in a 300m off-road circle before returning to the starting point and parallel parking it between two cars. Mike, an experienced stick-shift driver, takes 14 attempts to park. Novice Melissa does better with only ten attempts (though Wil contends it's nine times too many). Crystal hits the car in front of her, while Jakob manages to damage the car's gearbox on a climbing portion. Father Giles parks too far from the curb, while Arun, despite having once owned a stick-shift vehicle, has trouble getting the car going as he attempted to use one foot to operate the clutch and gas pedals. Angelina had the worst performance, nearly hitting every obstacle. Jojo was the only person to pass easily, due to Nima's assistance in parking.
• Limousine Figure-Eight: In the first figure-eight challenge of the season, the contestants must reverse a limousine in a wide figure-eight loop, with the other seven on board. Jakob, going first, sets the mark by taking only two minutes, only hitting five things in the far end of the course. Arun, going last, however, tops that by taking six minutes and not hitting anything, earning the praise of everyone else. Jojo (having veered off-course) and Father Giles (going slowly through the course) were only slightly off Jakob's mark, hitting six and seven things, respectively. Everyone else veers wildly off-course, and hits many things.

In the end, three drivers received consideration for graduation: Jakob, Jojo and Father Giles. Phillippe believes that Jakob's 'punk attitude' still needs to be addressed and thus he was eliminated from consideration. Between Jojo and Father Giles, one fared better overall and the other was 'more safe.' Because Jojo did better, she is the first graduate. As a reward for being first out, she does not drive home in the car she arrived to rehab; instead, she is allowed to drive away in a Mercedes-Benz.

• What Accounts for CWD's Popularity - Series Executive Producer Guy O'Sullivan is interviewed on why Canada's Worst Driver has become popular.
• The Man Who Buys the CWD Cars - Series Producer Blair Ricard is interviewed on his roles as a producer, including sourcing the cars that are used on the show. He admits that the cars used are all used expensive cars that he has always wanted and admits that he is saddened by the fact that they are almost always damaged on the show.

Episode 3: Head to Head Combat[edit]

Original Airdate: November 9, 2009

• The Figure Eight Redux: Due to the shockingly bad performance in the last Figure Eight challenge (in which Melissa, Crystal, Mike and Angelina knocked over at least 40 obstacles each), the Figure Eight Challenge returns, but this time is taken from Canada's Worst Driver 3. In this challenge, two cars begin face-to-face in the middle of the Figure Eight course and the contestants must reverse all the way around the course. First is Crystal and Arun. Arun is careful, but gets too greedy and reverses too far. While Arun and Crystal argue, Sanah is the only one to notice the sole passing area in the whole course (on one end of the figure-eight where Arun had passed) and further cooperation allows Crystal uses to finish ahead of Arun. Arun, confident in reversing slowly but horrible reversing fast, is given a lesson on how to reverse fast by Andrew. Melissa and Father Giles make up the second heat. Father Giles accidentally steps on the gas pedal instead of the brake while reversing, sending his car out of control and nearly hitting Andrew (stopping only because the car was trapped above a rim). When Andrew forces Wil from the car after seeing Melissa hit too many things, Melissa has no further problems reversing. Mike and Angelina are in the third heat. Christine immediately gets Angelina to drop the coffee and cigarette while reversing, but it only gets her into more trouble, causing Angelina to break down. Meanwhile, Mike has reversed to Angelina's position, on the opposite end of the passing point, causing Mike to be frustrated (though both do eventually finish). Jakob, without a partner, gets to reverse with Andrew. Jakob's only hits were while driving forward and, during the challenge, admits to a change in driving attitude.
• Road Signs: The annual road sign test is given to the contestants. Jakob is the best at signs, getting seven right, while Angelina misses all but one sign.
• The S-Turn Challenge: The S-Turn is a lesson that's taught every year in various forms. The challenge is performed in a right-hand drive Nissan S-Cargo, in an S-shaped course. Contestants must move laterally through the S-shaped course using repeated S-turns. Arun, going first, often mistakes forward and reverse gears and eventually gives up after 52 minutes. Crystal, second, hits seven things, but picks up the lesson easily. Angelina is distracted through the challenge due to taking a phone call partway through. Jakob still hits many things, but he is proud at not losing his composure during his run. Mike relies on Jodie the whole way through the challenge. Father Giles repeats the mantra 'halfway' through the second half of the course, and hits only one thing in his run. Wil, pledging not to speak during the challenge, breaks his promise two seconds in and insults Melissa 16 times in her run, leading Andrew to look into Wil's behaviour as a passenger. In a private meeting, Andrew makes Wil listen to footage of himself insulting Melissa. Wil is appalled by what came out of his own mouth, later breaking down in the confessional.
• The Eye of the Needle: This year, there are four numbered archways, which the contestants must go through at 70 km/h in order in a standard-transmission Lowrider. Arun hits the obstacles. Father Giles, who, in his youth, drove stick-shift, makes a perfect run. Wil's positive attitude also leads Melissa to drive another perfect run. Crystal repeatedly hits on the right side and admits that her accidents in the last 15 years are due to not wearing corrective lenses, which are a condition of her driver's license. Jakob makes a perfect run despite poor car handling. Angelina mistakes first gear for third and, as a result, hits two arches. Mike also makes a perfect run without effort.

In deliberation, Melissa reveals to the experts that Wil told her of his private drive with Andrew and how he cried for 15 minutes afterwards. Melissa and Jakob make the experts' shortlist, but Wil's attitude change proves to be the difference maker, as Melissa is named the season's second graduate.

Discovery Channel's web extras for this episode:

• Those Cars are Just Pieces of Metal - Philippe is interviewed on the program from an experts' point of view and on Andrew's progress as a driver over the years. He also states that, contrary to his line of work, in the end, cars are just 'pieces of metal' and that the driver is the one who makes the car.
• Andrew's Retrospective - Andrew reflects on his favourite contestant of past years-- Shelby D'Souza of Canada's Worst Driver 3—and his most horrifying moment to date, the portion of the road test where eventual 'winner' Jason Zhang stopped while trying to merge onto Ontario Highway 400.

Episode 4: Tanked[edit]

Original Airdate: November 16, 2009

• Distracted Driving: The annual lesson on the dangers of not putting the player's full attention to the road is done in a new way. This year, contestants take an AMC Marlin and perform a series of tasks while driving, trying not to hit any obstacles in process. Unlike previous years, contestants are not driving in a circle (but the course contains many turning portions and tight curves). Common tasks include applying lipstick, eating while driving, changing CDs and so on. Mike and Jakob learn hard lessons from the challenge (Jakob, in particular, pledges to eat drive-thru food while parked in a parking lot). Arun, in particular, has a habit of driving slower while distracted, but nevertheless hits many things. Angelina's run is highlighted by being so distracted on by repeated calls, she fails to notice that one of her tires had blown out. Father Giles is perplexed at how women could apply makeup while driving during his run. Crystal refuses to learn the lesson, adamantly defending her 'right' to smoke while driving.
• Rules of the Road Test: Peter administers a quick 10-question road sign test to the contestants on proper road behaviour, such as which car has right-of-way when two cars are arrive at a four-way stop at the same time. Jakob is the best with seven right and Mike is worst with only three.
• Drifting Donuts: The annual donut challenge teaches contestants to look where the car should be going when in a rear-end skid, as well as countersteering. After lessons taught by Phillipe, they must do so inside a confines, around a foam donut. Notably, Andrew takes two attempts to do the challenge himself, despite having learned how to do the donut in Canada's Worst Driver 3 (where this challenge was the first of the year) and having done it every year since on the first try. Mike and Father Giles both fail at the challenge, despite picking up the lesson well. Crystal completely demolishes the walls before making a donut and believes the car was deliberately rigged. Angelina initially could not handle the lesson, but despite her squeamishness, she learns quickly. During the challenge, however, she quickly forgets her lessons and blows her second tire of the episode. Stacey, having witnessed Jakob crashing firsthand, closes her eyes through much of his run, making Jakob question whether he deserves to graduate.
• The Water-Tank Challenge: This year, the Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow is used for the annual challenge. In this year's course, after a simple right turn at a stop sign, a precision driving challenge follows, before going on a straightaway at 30 km/h, heading into a sharp curve, through a corral, where they must reverse the car at 20 km/h into the finish. Andrew is splashed for the second year in a row, losing 16 litres (4.2 US gal) of water in the tank. Arun misses the stop sign and the water makes him destroy the course. Father Giles, calm throughout, does not hit anything, but repeatedly hits the brakes suddenly, losing half the water in the tank (but despite this, posts the best run of the day). Crystal's habit of pulsing the pedal leads to getting splashed and missing the stop sign, resulting in 180 litres (48 US gal) lost in her run. Angelina, who also pulses of the pedals, fears the water tank and rightly so, as she loses 130 litres (34 US gal) and struggles to drive in reverse. Jakob, who has grown a dislike for the Rolls-Royce, is repeatedly splashed, losing 160 litres (42 US gal) and, in the confessional, admits he had one of the most destructive runs of the day. Mike, understanding the intent, nevertheless loses 170 litres (45 US gal).

In deliberation, it is recognized that everyone did poorly in the donuts and water tank challenge. After the two challenges, none of the six contestants believe they deserve to graduate, a first for the series. Nevertheless, Father Giles receives consideration for graduation (by Cam). The experts, in the end, agree to honour everyone's request to stay, so no one graduates.

Discovery Channel's web extras for this episode:

• Melissa: The Second Graduate - Melissa is interviewed after her graduation. Wil also presents his input on becoming a better passenger, vowing to keep the CD given to him by Andrew on their private drive in their car's glove box.

Episode 5: Close to Home[edit]

Original Airdate: November 23, 2009

• The Lane Change Rally: The contestants will attempt to pass Andrew, driving a limousine at 25 km/h, twice on an oval circuit. All the contestants will be on the course at the same time, so the challenge will require various lane changes as the contestants will also need to pass each other. Each incorrect lane change will result in requiring an additional pass of the limo. Arun gets into his habit on driving between two lanes, which Cam notes is a $110 offense for failure to stay in marked lane. Two minutes into the challenge, Father Giles is the first to finish. Jakob exits the course second much later. Angelina repeatedly makes the mistake of checking the wrong side (checking to the right when intending to change to the left lane). Arun, in the meantime, repeatedly cuts off everyone else (first Crystal, then Andrew—both on bad passes—and then Mike from the outside lane into the infield) before having to be dragged off the course for everyone else's safety. Crystal finishes after nine bad passes and Mike finishes with 19 bad passes, but both are considered to have failed the challenge due to the excessive number of bad passes they each made; the experts also did not feel that Crystal had learned anything from the exercise. Before Angelina finishes, Andrew intentionally drives off the course, but it is a while before Angelina realizes that the challenge has concluded.
  • Best Performer: Father Giles was the only driver to finish without making any bad passes, proving that it does pay to go slow sometimes.
  • Worst Performer: Even though Crystal finished with nine bad passes and Mike finished with 19, Angelina fails to realize that the challenge had ended after Andrew intentionally drove off the course.
• Driving at Night: The contestants are driven in a windowless van and taken to Oasis, an abandoned gas station in Alliston, Ontario 33 km (21 mi) away from the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites in Barrie, where they are staying during rehab. The contestants must drive back to the hotel, but this time with another contestant's nominator (the contestants are free to arrange who they will pair up with). Angelina's car is discovered to have an expired registration (her registration expired in February, less than six months before rehab began), so her car is intentionally towed to the location. Father Giles is paired with Theresa (who immediately asks for directions back to the hotel), while Jakob is paired with Guy (driving without directions, though fortunately, Guy was able to recognize the local landmarks and work out a route). Arun is paired with Stacey, while Mike is paired with Sanah. Prior to the challenge, Crystal (paired with Christine) arranged for an eye exam and is prescribed a contact lens over her right eye (as she has 20/120 vision and no peripheral vision). She immediately discovers that she tends to drift into oncoming traffic. Meanwhile, Angelina (paired with Jodie), adamant on using her own car, asks her boyfriend, Andy, to repair her headlights (Andy is half a world away in Indonesia), but eventually calls a tow truck (and sealing up last place). Mike, however, is caught driving 110 km/h in a 50 km/h zone, something Cam notes is a $10,000 fine with immediate license suspension and car impoundment. Once again, Father Giles is first to finish (thanks to Theresa's good directions and Father Giles' 'brand new speedy skills' for finally going the speed limit, even accidentally breaking it), with Jakob finishing 10 minutes later, just as the tow truck finally arrives for Angelina. Arun finishes third, with Mike coming in fourth. Crystal was the slowest of the drivers who actually participated in the challenge, but her dramatically improved peripheral vision was demonstrated when Christine revealed upon arrival that Crystal was able to narrowly dodge a raccoon on her way to the hotel.
  • First to Arrive: Father Giles was the first to arrive, thanks to Theresa's good directions.
  • Last to Arrive: Even though Crystal was the last of the drivers who actually participated in the challenge, Angelina was the last to arrive due to having to call a tow truck because her vehicle's registration had expired.
• Handbrake J-Turn: The contestants are taught by Philippe on how to perform a Forward Handbrake J-Turn (a modified bootleg turn), as first seen on Canada's Worst Driver 3. The key to the technique is to make the car front-heavy by taking the foot off the gas, before using the pendulum effect (turning right before a sudden turn to the left) and the handbrake to swing around (this process is known as a Scandinavian flick). For the challenge, the contestants must accelerate to 50 km/h, making the turn around a foam figure. Contestants have five attempts before being forced to retire. Angelina hits the brakes and loses control of the car, failing her five attempts. Jakob and Mike both make it on their fifth attempts after a few close calls. Crystal fails her five attempts, her last knocking down the foam figure. Though Arun is next to go (and Father Giles is last), a personal tragedy happens to Crystal while awaiting for the course to reset—she receives word from her mother that her brother-in-law, 50-year-old Tom Stagno, was killed when a 2005 Chrysler 300 failed to stop at a stop sign at the intersection of Essex County Road 2 and Stuart Lane near Lakeshore, Ontario, colliding into him as he tried to avoid the collision. The driver of the car, later identified by OPP as 46-year-old Tom Marion of Tecumseh, Ontario, was later ticketed $128 and criminally charged under the Highway Traffic Act with failure to yield.^[2] Because of Crystal's personal tragedy, neither Arun nor Father Giles take the challenge and Crystal is allowed to leave rehab to mourn her personal loss.

In the confessionals and in front of the experts, everyone mourns over Crystal's personal tragedy and reflect on their own skills in the process. It is also revealed via footage that all of the drivers of this season fail to yield in their daily driving routines. While speaking to the panel, Father Giles says that hearing of the tragedy has only made him more determined to improve his skills, while Jakob and Angelina admit to causing minor accidents via their own failures to yield and Mike is confronted by Cam over his excessive speed during the night driving challenge. Out of respect for Tom, not only does no one graduate this episode, but the end credits for this episode were silent and featured a dedication to Tom prior to the credits.

Discovery Channel's web extras for this episode:

• Angelina's Words of Wisdom - Angelina presents excerpts from her own personal scrapbook in the confessional, compiled since her teenage years.

Episode 6: Riding the Rails[edit]

Original airdate: November 30, 2009

• Reverse Flick: The Reverse Flick, first taught in the previous season, returns. In this challenge, the contestants must reverse into the box at 30 km/h, do a 180 J-Turn in a confined space, before exiting the box forwards. Contestants have 10 attempts before retiring. Mike finishes on his 10th attempt, while Jakob fails, due to overspeed and swinging the wrong way. Arun also fails for hitting the brakes and losing control of the car in his attempts. Father Giles finishes easily and patiently, while Angelina requires Andrew's assistance to pass, due to her new 'hands-on' learning philosophy (this would ultimately be the only challenge Angelina passed all season).
• The Trough: The annual lesson on knowing where the wheels on a car are takes this form this year. In the challenge, contestants must travel through a sand and concrete course, while having the wheels remain on the concrete at all times. Sanah learns quickly the key to the winding course is to take wide turns and gets Arun to pass after three attempts. Jakob, however, tops that by passing on his second attempt. Mike frequently hits the sand on the first turn and fails. Angelina and Father Giles gets their cars stuck on multiple occasions and also fail.
• Shopping Cart Hockey: The experts had been baffled at how Mike drives poorly at low speeds but well at high speeds. On the first day, Mike explains to Andrew that he had learned high-speed driving from pushing shopping carts with his car. Fascinated, Andrew and the experts endorsed the challenge of Mike's creation (because of this, Mike doesn't do the challenge as he shows it to Andrew). In this challenge, contestants must push a shopping cart with a car up until a white line before letting the shopping cart's momentum lead it through a goal. Contestants have up to ten attempts to score a goal. Angelina's first shot only narrowly missed, but she was never able to match it in her next nine, usually losing control of the cart before she got to the line. Jakob had looked like he scored on his last attempt, but his car was over the line. Arun was intent on ramming the cart from a distance, but never succeeds. Father Giles prefers a slow approach, accelerating towards the line only at the end. He is the only one to score.
• Trailer Troubles: The annual trailer challenge has contestants drive a truck which has two trailers, making the car a total length of 23 m (75 ft). They must drive the trailer into a campsite and park it in marked spaces; the truck itself faces the outside of the campground, while the large and small trailers are behind it. Due to the difficulty of reversing with two trailers, Andrew clearly states that some problem solving is needed: the smaller trailer will invariably need to be unhitched and pushed to its space. Jodie, who drives with trailers daily, gets this and directs Mike to finish. Arun overdrives the campground and fails in the reverse. Guy, recognizing the problem, leads Father Giles to pass the challenge, with the truck and trailers facing three different directions. Angelina fails after declining the idea of unhooking a trailer. Jakob is puzzled by the challenge and, due to Stacey being unable to drive, is puzzled by what to do.

In deliberation, only Father Giles and Jakob express the desire to graduate. The experts also feel similarly, but note that Father Giles' only issue, being underspeed, is fully addressed, while Jakob's issue, road rage, still needs work. Because of this, Father Giles graduates, but not before everyone salutes him with his signature two thumbs up pose.

Discovery Channel's web extras for this episode:

• In Father Giles We Trust - Father Giles is interviewed after his graduation. The Driver Rehabilitation Centre served to reinforce his beliefs and was worth the spiritual journey. Guy also retracts his 'Sunday driver' comment from his initial nomination, stating that he is an 'all week' driver now.

Episode 7: Uphill Battle[edit]

Original airdate: December 7, 2009

• The Trough, In Reverse: The contestants, save Jakob, had done so badly on the trough, that the same challenge (on a slightly different course) will be done in reverse. As Andrew notes, the key to the challenge is to take wide turns to allow the car to swing when reversing around a curve and adjusting the car's mirrors to ensure that the wheels stay on the concrete. Jakob does worse in reverse compared to forwards in the last episode, nearly losing his composure and failing the challenge outright. Arun, who also passed going forward, is told by Sanah to stop and think, but still oversteers and fails. Angelina fails to use her side mirrors and uses Christine extensively for advice. Christine eventually caves and handles the wheel for Angelina. Though the run is without incident, she fails as Christine effectively drove from the passenger seat. Mike, whose major issues is reversing, is slow and methodical, but does manage to pass after 21 attempts.
• The Gimbal: The season's featured challenge (shown on Daily Planet after the first episode aired, with host Ziya Tong attempting the challenge) is one where the contestant must balance a stick-shift truck atop the gimbal, a swiveling platform with a hemispherical base. The truck must remain on the gimbal at all times. The lesson is on fine movement on a stick-shift vehicle. Angelina is convinced to quit the challenge by Christine when her platform shoes start to impair her ability to 'feel the pedals,' while Arun eventually perseveres after 13 minutes. Jakob, keeping his composure, also balances in five minutes (faster than Andrew in his demonstration run). Mike is initially frustrated, but also balances after 12 minutes.
• Off-Roading: The drivers must drive off-road, passing through eight gates on an off-road course. As the course has a real danger of rolling over due to the steep hills, each contestant, after their run, must coach the contestant going after him. Jakob, going first with Andrew as his guide, proceeds calmly and gets Arun to do the same. When Arun tries to do the same to Mike, an experienced off-roader, Mike proceeds recklessly and fails. Similarly, Angelina, intimidated by Mike, also proceeds recklessly on her run.
• Swerve and Avoid: In the annual challenge on not braking in order to retain steering control when sudden obstacles appear, the contestants must drive at 70 km/h before swerving to avoid a foam car that may appear in one exit. Contestants must do the run five times, with Andrew as a passenger on the final run. Arun fails only once. Angelina, after challenges where her high-heeled shoes often got in the way, gets new driving shoes for this challenge, but the shoes do not appear to help, failing all five runs. Jakob also fails only once, ironically when no cars appeared. Mike makes the mistake of 'guessing in advance' and driving overspeed on several occasions (which would only make the swerve harder) and fails his last three runs.

In deliberation, Jakob and Mike express interest in leaving. Arun does not feel ready to graduate yet, but is confident that he is not the worst of the remaining drivers, while Angelina finally starts to believe she is Canada's Worst Driver. The experts, however, are unanimous in their decision without a second thought—Jakob, shortlisted but passed over three times due to someone else having a breakout performance, is the season's penultimate graduate, and ensuring that there won't be three men in the finale.

Discovery Channel's web extras for this episode:

• The Last Stand of Jakob Poirer - Jakob is interviewed after graduation. He explains that he may still be 'punk rock' and that he still does 'what he feels like,' he concedes that 'what he feels like' has changed. He also admitted that he knew that he had an attitude problem before arriving in rehab and that the experts' opinions further cemented the point.
• Confession Jams - Music consisting of mashups of confessional footage of Jakob, Arun, Mike (on Father Giles' leaving the previous episode) and Angelina (on the Water-Tank challenge), is shown.

Episode 8: Judgement[edit]

Original airdate: December 14, 2009

Canada's Worst Driver 2018

• Reverse Serpentine: The contestants must reverse around a slalom course in 30 seconds or less. Contestants have up to 10 attempts before being forced to retire and will drive with each other as passengers. Mike fails his 10 attempts, while Angelina kills the transmission on the car after her seventh attempt (while making Mike vomit as she fishtails the car, as seen in the episode's preview). In a new car with better handling, she fails her last three. Arun notes that wide turns would kill his chances of finishing on time and, despite Angelina being distracting by talking on the phone, manages to pass on his last attempt, finishing off with a reverse spinout and preventing a bonus round from happening (something that would ultimately happen with Adam Bourré,Ashley Dunne and Mélanie Lautard in Canada's Worst Driver 13 when none of them could complete the Forward and Reverse Slalom in a combined 30 attempts, leading Andrew to propose a first-ever bonus round, in which all three finalists would ultimately succeed on their first attempt).
• Best Performer: Arun, who had the only pass on his final try, preventing a bonus round.
• Worst Performer: Angelina, who killed the Audi’s transmission and never once came close to passing.
• The Mega-Challenge: This year's mega-challenge is in two legs. In the first, contestants must do a reverse flick before a forward slalom and an Eye of the Needle portion. Then, continuing with the car in reverse, they must proceed in a precision course before switching to the second car. In the second, the contestants must drive forward and do a forward handbrake J-turn before tackling a short reverse, before ending the challenge attempting to balance on the gimbal. Mike fails each key portion, becoming more and more frustrated with each part. After the challenge, Mike admits that his only saving grace is if either Angelina or Arun do worse. Luckily for Mike, Angelina does do worse, as she causes the Corvette to overheat partway through the precision reverse and destroys the whole reverse portion while out of control in the forward handbrake J-turn, causing Andrew to wonder if she should be driving at all. Arun's run is somewhat better, passing the first precision reverse, the forward handbrake J-turn and balancing on the gimbal all on his first attempt.
• Best Performer: Arun, who had a rare Mega Challenge pass.
• Worst Performer: Mike and Angelina, as they both failed every component of the Mega Challenge.
• Road Test: Drivers must navigate a course involving 35 turns through Toronto, this time in a Ford Mustang GT convertible, with the beginning and ending at the Charles Hayden Municipal Parking Garage on Charles Street East. Mike makes 23 moving violations, including many past what was considered his breaking point when he is so distracted by a bicyclist on his right that he fails to notice an old, blind pedestrian in front of him as he prepares to continue east on Queen Street West from Peter Street. After his run, Mike realizes that the only way that he will not be Canada's Worst Driver is if Angelina really screws up on her drive, because Arun most certainly won't on his. Luckily for Mike, Angelina does screw up—her anxiety forces her to take medication combined with plenty of pulling over to regroup herself, first within 30 seconds of the drive, then a second time at the corner of Wellesley Street West and St. Nicholas Street after turning onto Wellesley Street West from Yonge Street for 20 minutes, then a third time after changing lanes while crossing Spadina Avenue from Nassau Street onto Cecil Street—to the point Andrew tries to convince her that, in her state, she is unfit to drive at all—and finally at the corner of Carlyle Street and Wales Avenue in front of Toronto Western Hospital, all to no avail, to the point Andrew tries to convince Christine to tell Angelina, but after a rest, Angelina walks off in disgust, vowing never to relinquish her license or stop driving. As for Arun, his run was uneventful, making a perfect run that included naming the five best things he learned in rehab despite a heckling bystander at one point. Andrew even considers him the 'poster boy' for the Driver Rehabilitation Centre and an amazed Cam admits that he was just about to give up on him prior to the Road Test before considering him the most improved driver in the four years he has been an expert, while Phillipe admits to being blown away by Arun's perfect drive.
• Best Performer: Arun, who had a perfect, flawless final drive.
• Worst Performer: Angelina, who she quit the final drive due to panic and Anxiety. Of the drivers who did complete the final drive, Mike did worse (if that’s even possible), by committing 23 moving violations and nearly running down an old lady.

In the end, Arun is given a round of applause by Andrew and the experts, with his status as the final graduate all but confirmed due to the Road Test, and since he is the obvious frontrunner to graduate, as he passed every challenge this episode. Andrew calls Arun a great example of a rehabilitated driver and Arun in turn thanks the Rehab Centre for their help and support. Far harsher words are given to Mike, who is still visibly shaken by his experience in the final drive. After Cam rails at him, Mike admits that he probably shouldn't continue to drive and Andrew challenges him to decide once and for all, by handing him back both his license and a pair of scissors. Reluctantly, Mike destroys his license, admitting that he couldn't live with himself if he killed someone through his bad driving, especially after seeing how Crystal was affected by her brother-in-law's death earlier in the season. Angelina, on the other hand, angrily refuses the notion of destroying her license, claiming that she was awarded it legitimately. Despite all four panel members strongly recommending that she give up driving, at least until she is able to better control her nerves, Angelina remains defiant to the end. While Cam, who disagrees with the rest of the panel that Angelina should be named the worst, is unconvinced that Mike will actually stop driving and Dr. Gembora questions whether Angelina and Mike could be named the joint-worst, something that would happen in Canada's Worst Driver 8 when Andrew couldn't choose between Kevin Simmons and Flora Wang as that season's worst driver, Andrew pushes for the panel to make a unanimous—and ultimately, inevitable—decision, as Angelina is named not just the worst driver of this season, but the worst to have appeared on any of the show's five seasons—even worse than Jason Zhang from Canada's Worst Driver 3, if that's even possible—as she passed just one challenge during her time on the show, the Reverse Flick, albeit with Andrew's help (the only other driver to have passed only one challenge up to this point was Donna Hicks from the previous season; however, Donna's pass rate prior to being removed from the show on safety grounds was 1/8-- her only pass going 30 km/h on the Shoulder Check Challenge—while Angelina's pass rate was a considerably worse 1/23). Normally, the runner-up would be allowed to drive home, but since Mike destroyed his license, a limousine was hired to take him home, similar to that of Canada's Worst Driver 2 'winner' Henrietta Gallant. During the journey, Mike reflected on his overall attitude, vowing to reform himself and earn a new license, while Angelina's car is towed away and she is given a cab ride to a nearby airport, as the fifth person to be awarded the Canada's Worst Driver trophy.

Reception[edit]

Watch Canada's Worst Driver

Canada's Worst Driver 5 continues the series trend of being the most-watched show on Discovery Channel, with the first episode garnering the highest ratings in the history of Discovery Channel, and was the highest-rated non-sports specialty channel show for the night.^[3] Discovery Channel also boasted that the show's ratings routinely beat out those for conventional channels in the same timeslot, specifically naming Heroes (on Global Television) and The National (on CBC).^[4]

References[edit]

1. ^'Twitter statement by Brent Butt: I'm curious if you have any relation to Mike Butt from Canada's Worst Driver Season 5? << Yep. He's my nephew'. April 26, 2012. Retrieved April 26, 2012.
2. ^'Angered by fatalities, motorcyclists want tougher penalties'. Archived from the original on 2010-01-19. Retrieved 2011-03-19.
3. ^'Canada's Worst Driver Season 5 smashes audience records'. Archived from the original on 2009-12-18. Retrieved 2009-10-27.
4. ^'Who is Canada's Worst Driver? Season finale Monday'. Retrieved 2009-12-08.

External links[edit]

• Canada's Worst Driver 5 on watch.discoverychannel.ca
• Canada's Worst Driver on IMDb
• Canada's Worst Driver at TV.com