Three experts return from previous seasons, joined by host Andrew Younghusband and a new expert as the judging panel, who will evaluate the contestants on their progress.
Dr. Lauren Kennedy-Smith is the new expert for this year. She is a professional psychotherapist who has also moonlighted as a race car driver and entertainer.
Philippe Létourneau returns for his fourth year as an expert. In his day job as a high-performance instructor, he drives with expensive fancy cars every day.
Peter Mellor returns for his second year as an expert. He is an accomplished instructor of basic driving with the Advanced Motoring Bureau in Ontario.
Cam Woolley returns for his fifth year as an expert. Currently a traffic specialist for CablePulse 24 in Toronto, in the past, he was one of Ontario's most famous traffic cops.
The eight contestants for this year are as follows:
Diane Akers, 49, from Edmonton, Alberta, is a suburbanite who is uncomfortable driving anywhere past five kilometres from her home. That comfort radius quickly degenerates to zero under inclement conditions. Her daughter Raeanne Akers ("Canada, this is the woman who made you late for work") is staging an intervention on her behalf. She drives a Pontiac Montana and drove a blue Dodge Caravan to the rehabilitation centre.
Jamie Giberson, 25, from Hampton, New Brunswick, has been traumatized by fear after hitting an elderly couple early in her driving career. Her fear has caused her to fail a driving exam four times, and she often blames her bad driving on her husband and nominator, Eric Giberson. She drives a silver Oldsmobile Intrigue and drove a grey Ford Five Hundred to the rehab centre.
Bradley "Brad" Hengerer, 34, from Springbank, Alberta (near Calgary), has been banned from driving by his wife and nominator, Donna Hengerer, as well as his father-in-law due to an escalating pile of accidents. He enters rehab out of necessity, as his father-in-law's health is failing and Donna has lost the use of her right arm following a farming accident, which has forced Brad to take up driving once again. He drives a red Pontiac Sunfire GT and drove a white Chevrolet Impala to the rehab centre.
Lance Morin, 27, from Ottawa, Ontario, has only been licensed for roughly four months. His driving history goes further back, though, as he had been caught driving unlicensed with an uninsured car when he was 16. Since then, though, he had been a nervous wreck behind the wheel despite diligently awaiting the day that he would be fully licensed. He is nominated by his best friend Gilles Proulx, who works as a parking enforcement officer in Ottawa. He drives a silver Chevrolet Cobalt and drove a black Ford Focus to the rehab centre..
Dale Pitton, 62, from St. Catharines, Ontario, is a grandmother who desires to learn, but no one around her has a desire to drive with her. As such, she has amassed an escalating accident record, including an occasion where she hit a police car as she was being ticketed. One of her nephews John Pitton was one of six people who nominated her for the show. She drives a blue Chevrolet Cavalier.
Scott Schurink, 25, from Chestermere, Alberta (near Calgary), is a speed addict, loving to weave in and out of traffic on busy highways going at 150 km/h. As such, he has had his license suspended seven times, and has owned over 60 cars. His roommate Danny Bridgman wants him to adopt the proper rules of the road, especially since he is driving on Danny's insurance due to the prohibitive cost that it would entail for Scott to insure himself. He drives a black Nissan Maxima and drove a beige Nissan Altima to the rehab centre. On Saturday May 9, 2015, Scott was caught speeding again in Calgary, AB. He was allegedly doing 176 km/h in a 100 zone.
Dean Sibanda, 33, from Saint-Laurent, Quebec (on Montreal Island), is an immigrant from Zimbabwe who has yet to be accustomed to driving in Canada – even basic knowledge such as the meaning of stop signs elude him. His friend and nominator Brian Glenzitoe has known him for the nine years he has been in Canada. He drives a beige Nissan Altima and drove a green Nissan Sentra to the rehabilitation centre.
Paul Thurston, 54, from Collingwood, Ontario, has never been comfortable with anything on four wheels, an oddity for a former stunt motorcyclist who had once jumped 15 cars on his bike. He has a hatred of cars after he has lost five of his friends in bike/car collisions, but he is motivated to drive a car after realizing that driving a bike in the middle of winter is unsafe. His biker buddy Tommy Bettles will be accompanying him to rehab. He drives a white GMC Conversion Van and rode his motorcycle, along with Tommy, to the rehabilitation centre.
The contestant was still in the running for Canada's Worst Driver.
The contestant became ultimately Canada's Worst Driver.
The contestant became the runner up.
The contestant was on the panel's shortlist.
The driver was expelled from the Driver Rehabilitation Centre, and is out of the running for Canada's Worst Driver.
The contestant graduated and is out of the running for Canada's Worst Driver.
^1 Non-Elimination Week, due to all contestants wanting to remain at the Driver Rehabilitation Centre.
Original airdate: October 25, 2010
The Drive to Rehab: The eight contestants begin their journey into rehab in Hamilton, Ontario in the traditional drive to the Driver Rehabilitation Centre. Paul is permitted to leave first on his motorcycle instead of driving there in a car. Lance leaves next, followed by Diane, who travels so slowly she causes a traffic jam behind her. Dale, Brad, and Jamie are the next to leave, in that order. Speed freaks Dean and Scott are the last to leave. Dale is first to arrive, and shortly after, Scott, having made 37 moving violations, is ordered to stop by the camera crew after getting caught driving 50 km/h over the speed limit, and is forced to make the rest of the trip as a passenger in a van. Brad is next to arrive while husband and wife bicker despite driving normally. Diane is next to arrive, followed by Lance. Scott arrives in his ride next. Dean is forced to stop shortly after (in the same manner as Scott), again because of driving 50 km/h over the speed limit. Paul arrives shortly after, and Jamie is next to arrive, and Dean (in his ride) is last to arrive. Dean and Scott are the first contestants in the history of Canada's Worst Driver not to complete the drive to the rehab centre.
Basic Assessment: In response to complaints about vintage used cars being demolished in previous years, a brand new Chevrolet Camaro was commissioned for this show, to be used in one challenge per episode and to be sold after the series ends. The challenge, mostly identical to that of last season, consists of a reversing course with one foot of space on either side, followed by a 50 km/h slalom before stopping in front of a wall. Paul, going first, makes many scratches and bumps in the reverse and spins out of control on the slalom. Diane and Dale continue in the rapid devaluation of the car, and neither makes it to the full 50 km/h. Lance, having never driven in an automatic transmission car, promptly gets the car stuck on a stack of hubcaps in the first turn. Lance never makes it to the end of the challenge. Donna gets so agitated in the reverse portion that Brad has to stop and take a break for her sake, while Dean speeds his way through the slalom, but stops well short of the wall. Both continue to devalue the car. Jamie, however, takes the prize for the most damage to the car, ripping off the entire front bumper through contact with the concrete barrier. Scott, going last, acts as a show-off prior to the challenge, and makes a perfect reverse run. However, he demonstrates why he is in rehab when he shows off a handbrake turn before attempting the slalom, but forgets to release the handbrake before entering the slalom, ruining an otherwise perfect run.
In the deliberation, each contestant meets with the experts for a personal discussion on why they are here. However, as this is the first episode, no one leaves the Driver Rehabilitation Centre.
Web extras for this episode:
Bad Passengers: Andrew reflects on the nature of the nominator after five years. He claims that in the first few years, people were usually nominated by their loved ones out of spite, while in later years, the desire to have their loved ones improve has taken over. Nominations have increased from 100 in the first year to 500 this year. He also talks about nominators who act as "backseat drivers", generally out of affection for their nominees. He recommends that being a calming influence will help their nominees become better, and that one challenge on the show may turn out to be two challenges – one for the nominee and one for the nominator.
Viewer Mailbag: As with Canada's Worst Handyman 5, Andrew takes time to answer questions submitted by viewers prior to the start of the season. On why nominees are allowed to leave rather than adopting the Canada's Worst Handyman format and have everyone stay the entire length of the series, Andrew states that eliminating nominees allows them to have more contestants (eight versus five), and the limited amount of education that could be provided on CWD compared to the wide range of skills that can be taught in CWH.
Bad Drivers: Philippe, who admitted that this was the first year that he nearly vomited while teaching the contestants their skills, talks about the extensive preparation needed for the show needed by everyone on the crew. Despite the fact that this is his fourth year on the show, he still feels as if he is unprepared. He talks about a greater emphasis on high-speed challenges (having to drive up to 80 km/h for some challenges, which has not been done since Canada's Worst Driver 2, before he first came on the show) this year, owing to the number of contestants who are not confident behind the wheel or are otherwise unskilled. Philippe also mentions that, in the upcoming teeter-totter challenge (first seen on Canada's Worst Driver 3 but taken from Canada's Worst Driver 4), five cars were used for the challenge, prompting Philippe to suggest that each contestant should get their own challenge car in the future.
Challenge Links: The crew of the Canada's Worst Driver series take a behind-the-scenes look at the "Challenge Link", the short introductory pieces done by Andrew before every challenge. Links are also done for each episode (as the show's cold opening) as well as the season itself (as the cold opening for the first episode).
Sound for the Show: Tobin Mills, sound director of the series (and one of the few crew members who have been with the show since the first season), explains his behind-the-scenes role in the show, and how his role has evolved over the years.
New Car: Andrew goes into further detail on viewer complaints that vintage cars were being destroyed for the show by the contestants in past years (most notably the Rolls Royce Silver Shadow from the previous season), and how the Camaro was commissioned "fresh off the assembly line". Andrew then details the extent of the damage that the Camaro goes through over the course of the series. Still, despite the rapid devaluation (claiming that it is only worth about $40 at the end of the series), Andrew takes solace in the fact that the engine still works.
Vehicle Damage: Rob Collum and Bill Hoffie, the show's mechanics (and billed as the show's "unsung heroes"), talk about the maintenance of the cars used for the show. They compare the Camaro with a 40-year-old car that was also used on the show, and say the older car is in much better shape. They also claim that the damage incurred on the show is not due to a lack of respect for the car, but the lack of knowledge on how to have the proper respect for the car. A detailed look on the extent of damage the Camaro takes over the course of the series is also examined.
Original airdate: November 1, 2010
The RV Challenge – In every province in Canada, ordinary drivers are licensed to drive a vehicle 12 metres long and weighing up to 11 tonnes. In this challenge, contestants must reverse one such vehicle around a gentle curve. For this challenge, all eight contestants must take the course together. Dean, going first, scrapes the paint off, but Scott, in the passenger seat, manages to correct his course in the latter half of his run. Jamie is coached by Paul and Scott through her run in a similar manner, but hits 18 things. Scott has few problems in his own run, while Brad focuses so much on his driver-side mirror he takes off his passenger-side mirror, and the cross-talk between Scott, Dean, and Paul gets him confused, though he does finish. Paul forces his way through the course, but only hits six things. Dale is guided by four contestants inside the vehicle and John outside to pass her run. Diane also goes through the first half of the course without hitting anything, and her second half is only marginally worse. Lance, going last, breaks down halfway through his run, and has to be continually comforted by Scott, Paul, and Brad.
Running the Rails – The contestants must drive a car up a set of rails over a pool, touching a stop sign without dislodging a set of garbage cans above the sign, before reversing the way they came. Brad slides off after three seconds, and fails. Dean slides off to the right going forwards, while neither Dale or Jamie even get aligned in the beginning. Scott has an advantage from a long lead-up, but knocks over the garbage cans and falls out of alignment in the reverse. Diane also does likewise. Paul, whose main problem is driving in the presence of other cars, remains calm and passes the course. Lance manages to stay balanced, but starts to reverse well before hitting the stop sign.
The Posture Check – Phillippe evaluates the driving postures of all eight contestants, and corrects them if necessary. In addition, Phillippe teaches them the proper way to check blind spots on the car. This skill is important in the next challenge...
Camaro Challenge: The Shoulder Check Challenge – The traditional shoulder check challenge will be done in the Camaro this year. In this challenge, drivers must drive past a set of lights at 80 km/h and look behind them to see which way to go to avoid a large stop sign in front of them (if neither side is safe, they are directed to stop in front of the sign). Paul, despite Andrew's visible concern due to a perceived larger blind spot, passes easily. Jamie fails as she turns her wheel as she does her checks. Lance does not turn in time, and hits the stop sign. Dean passes easily, while Brad goes too fast and goes the wrong way. Dale also passed, but she didn't see which way to go and blindly guessed. Diane, who has trouble accelerating to highway speeds, accelerates to 80 km/h, but didn't shoulder check at all, crashing into the stop sign. Scott drives too fast and doesn't have time to check both shoulders, resulting in him taking the wrong turn and failing, but his joking about the failure is the straw that breaks the camel's back for Danny. As they leave the course, Danny lashes out at Scott for failing to take things seriously, calling him "Hollywood". Danny then goes on to tell Andrew that he had overheard Scott bragging about his speeding habits to Jamie and Raeanne the previous night, and intending to tell the panel that he hadn't learned anything, further proving Scott's unwillingness to improve his attitude.
Before Scott takes his run, his driving history is revealed. Though ostensibly entering rehab to be a better driver for his son Isaac, he quickly earns the ire of the show's crew for his juvenile behaviour. Near the end of the show, Scott stated on camera that he had driven far over the speed limit (once going as high as 200 km/h), kept driving despite having his license suspended, used another person's license while his was suspended (once while also under house arrest), committed hit-and-runs, and drove while drunk; Cam, as a former police officer, relayed the information to the Calgary Police Service, due to an obligation to his former profession. Meanwhile, Danny is so outraged (due to Scott effectively driving on Danny's insurance) that he calls his insurance company and has the insurance policy cancelled effective the day after the challenge, meaning that Scott was no longer insured. As such, he is no longer permitted to drive in any future challenges.
When meeting with the experts, Scott says he needs to find a new "sucker friend" to insure him and act as nominator. He believes that if he drives safely for five years under someone else's insurance, he will then be able to afford his own, but is told that he will not be allowed to do so, and will only be permitted to continue on the show if he can pay for his insurance by himself. Scott admits that this is completely infeasible, as his history of driving offences means it would cost at least $1,200 per month to get his own policy; consequently, the experts tell him that effective immediately, he is expelled from rehab.
Due to his ineligibility, Scott's license is returned, and he leaves rehab in a cab with Danny, but not before the weight of reality sets in for him. As Scott is driven away, Andrew's voiceover states that at the time of the episode's airing Scott has not been criminally charged in relation to any of the issues raised in the episode, and in all likelihood, never will be.
Original airdate: November 8, 2010
The Three-Point Turn – A four-wheel drive Jeep will be used for this challenge, first introduced in Canada's Worst Driver but last used in Canada's Worst Driver 2, contestants must drive onto an area with a moat, and must make a 3-point turn without hitting the moat in 20 minutes. Lance's best effort is a 21-point turn in 8 minutes. Dean gets frustrated after repeated attempts to improve on a five-point turn, but he does finish with a three-point turn after six attempts and five minutes. Paul and Brad both eventually pass thanks to their nominators. Diane, understanding the geometry of the challenge, gets the challenge on the second try. Jamie and Dale get the car stuck in the moat.
The Teeter-Totter – This traditional challenge from Canada's Worst Driver 3 (but presented in its Canada's Worst Driver 4 incarnation) has contestants drive a stick-shift Mini Cooper and balance it on a teeter-totter. Lance, who drives a stick-shift car (only two contestants, Dale and Jamie, have no prior stick-shift experience), quickly burns through the clutch. Andrew notes that the clutch was probably on the verge of failure anyway since it burned out so quickly, so the Mini Cooper is replaced by a 1990 Mazda Miata. Lance slowly kills the clutch on that car as well, and fails the challenge. In a third car, Diane manages to balance after repeated rocking of the teeter-totter. Paul finishes quickly, as his motorcycle experience pays off (like stick-shift cars, motorcycles also have a clutch). Donna is unable to accompany Brad due to a shoulder injury, so Andrew accompanies Brad through his run. Another burned clutch causes him to fail. Dean destroys the clutch on a fourth car in his run, and he fails. During Dean's run attention was called to Brian's habit of putting his feet on the dashboard, which Cam noted would cause him to be severely injured if the passenger side airbag triggered. Dale drives right off the teeter-totter and burns the clutch off of a fifth car. But that means Jamie, going last, is exempt from doing the challenge, as they are out of cars.
Road Signs – Peter administers a quick exam on road signs to all contestants. 14 signs are presented, with Brad getting the most right at 8. Dale is worst with only one.
Camaro Challenge: Icy Corner – This challenge, last presented in Canada's Worst Driver 4, has contestants use the Camaro (whose anti-lock braking system is disabled) to accelerate into a curved wall at 50 km/h, and make a sharp turn to avoid hitting it. The lesson teaches threshold braking to all contestants; contestants must brake but avoid locking up the tires to pass the challenge. Jamie, Paul, and Diane all hit the wall. Donna apologizes for Brad failing his run when Brad demanded silence on his run. Dean, who had a habit of letting go of the brake altogether, destroys the course. Dale had a falling out with John before the challenge, so Andrew helps Dale pass her run. Lance gets this on his first try.
In deliberation, no one has a desire to graduate. However, Paul receives consideration by both Philippe and initially Peter (though he quickly retracts his statement). He is considered safety-aware, though Cam argues that failing to make the cornering challenge is a condemnation of his skills. In the end, the experts agree to honour everyone's request, marking the first time in the history of the series that 7 contestants remain heading into the fourth episode.
Original airdate: November 15, 2010
Crazy Eights – The head-to-head reverse figure-eight challenge will be first on the docket. This year, both cars (both Honda CR-X del Sols, one gray and one red) will start in the middle of the figure-eight, and the passing point will also be in the middle, after both cars have made one loop. Andrew will continue to accompany Dale (after her falling out with her nominator last episode), while driving opposite head instructor Peter (in the gray car). Peter finishes quickly and has to wait for Dale to pass and to finish. Dale eventually has to be stopped after a rim she hits punctures the gas line on her red car. Diane and Dean make the second heat. Dean, frustrated by the slow reverse, goes too far, passing the midway point and intentionally backs into Diane, forcing both to stop, though neither hit anything else. Jamie and Brad form the third heat. Brad quickly grows frustrated due to Donna's laughter and her controlling nature, which Donna admits is a problem on her part. In contrast, Jamie is reluctant to take control of the car. Both Brad and Jamie do finish with minimal incident. Lance and Paul make up the final heat. Lance, having taken every private lesson opportunity available to him, quickly gets into the halfway point in 48 seconds with minimal incident, while Paul's back problem makes him unaware of an errant rim, which, as Paul (in the red car) runs over the rim, ruptures the gas tank. Paul admits failure in the challenge, while Lance is let off the hook.
Camaro Challenge: The Slalom Challenge – Back in the first episode, everyone failed the slalom portion of the basic assessment. After Philippe gives everyone lessons on how to do this properly, everyone must do this challenge again... but at 80 km/h. This had never been done in previous seasons due to the crew having never trusted the older used cars employed for a challenge of this nature, hence the use of the Camaro. Lance and Diane both go too fast and hit things. Paul passes despite intense frustrations. Donna's lack of screaming (an effort on her part to reduce a negative influence on Brad) nets Brad a pass as well. Andrew is terrified at Dale's driving, but she passes, much to his astonishment. Jamie, going at 88 km/h, also passes to Eric's astonishment. Speed freak Dean has had a bad habit of letting go of the brake when things go wrong; and things went wrong just as Dean passed the last obstacle, turning a pass into a fail in the last minute.
Rules of the Road – Peter administers a test of the rules of the road. Of the 10 rules tested, Paul did the best with eight correct, while Lance was the worst with only two correct.
The Water-Tank Challenge – The annual smooth-driving challenge returns, this year using a Plymouth Reliant "K-car" station wagon. The course starts with a slow acceleration to 60 km/h before slowing down and turning into a precision driving course with many turns. The challenge leads into a raised platform before finishing with a slalom in reverse. For the third consecutive year, Andrew gets splashed on after being too ambitious on the raised platform. The water lost is still very little in comparison with the contestants: Jamie quickly panics after the first brake and fails the reverse slalom. Brad is barely able to make the corner while going fast, and is never able to drive slowly through the course. Chronically slow Diane also goes too fast on the straightaway, and like Jamie, quickly loses concentration (and composure) thereafter. Paul has minimal issues in the initial portion, and most of his lost water came from hitting obstacles. He learns that concentration is the key to success, and Tommy reiterates this throughout the challenge. John returns to rehab with Dale this challenge, but she destroys much of the course in her run. Lance loses all his water nearly failing to make the first turn. Dean is too afraid to accelerate fast, and runs out of room going forward. The ensuing spill of water from having to brake quickly floods the engine.
In deliberation, Jamie expresses the desire to graduate. Lance also expresses the desire to graduate, but admits that he has no real chance to do so. Paul expresses the desire to graduate. Dale expresses further resolve to improve, while Brad admits he needs work on the relationship front more than his driving skills. The experts make a unanimous decision to graduate Paul, described as "the perfect student", as the season's first graduate without further discussion.
Web extras for this episode:
Dale's Confession – Dale and John, in the confessional, discuss on what happens when Dale was quizzed on what the speed limit on the highway is. Prior to that, she had thought that the speed limit varied between lanes (which isn't true anywhere in Canada) before John corrects her and says that the speed limit on Ontario's highways (referring to the 400-series highways in Ontario) as 100 km/h. She also comments on various misconceptions she had before entering rehab (such as being able to drive with a malfunctioning speedometer, "blinker fluid", and needing only air conditioning and a good rear-view mirror to drive). The conversation goes into how she had gotten her driver's license 30 years ago, and she admitted that various luck factors may have played a part on how she avoided getting into some of the trouble by talking her way out of things.
Paul's Graduation – Paul takes to the confessional one last time, and reflects on the skills that he had learned during rehab: the rules of the road (for which he later discovers that he had the best score) as well as the skills taught to him by Peter and Philippe, which he credits to passing at least two challenges (as well as a third that he knew how to do but had failed) despite the many troubles fitting into the various cars on the show. He also speaks of the virtues of patience, as well as going back to the stresses of his normal life. He also reflects on how easily he absorbed the various lessons, chalking it up to experience, and never regretting anything he has done.
Original airdate: November 22, 2010
Camaro Challenge: The Swerve and Avoid – This annual challenge is dedicated to a fan of the show, who had taken the lessons from this challenge to heart and had narrowly avoided a truck using the skills taught from this challenge; she and her husband were invited to the Driver Rehabilitation Centre as guests for this challenge. Contestants will have two attempts at passing at 70 km/h. Lance hits the brakes and fails on the first go, and in his induced anxiety he fails his second run. Jamie, despite her nervousness, passes on her first try. Dale misinterprets her senses and hits the car on the first try, and hits the brakes on the second try. Despite Donna's yelling, Brad also passes, a stark contrast from the earlier cornering challenge. Diane fails going too slow and braking far beforehand, and is convinced to drive up to 100 km/h on a practice run before attempting her second run. On that run, she accelerates to 80 km/h, and almost clears it; she nevertheless is considered to have passed the challenge for overcoming her speed fears. Dean clears the obstacle at 80 km/h, but later spins out of control, and so fails that run. He skids too far and loses control in the second run, as well.
The Lane Change Rally – Each of the six contestants will compete in the head-to-head lane change challenge from last season. Contestants must drive at 35 km/h and pass Andrew twice in his car. Each incorrect lane change will be penalized by one additional required pass. Lance starts the challenge by racing ahead, and then stopping entirely when he realizes Andrew hasn't gotten into his car. This agitates Donna, and after Andrew temporarily halts the challenge in order to confront Dale, who had cut off Andrew three times, Donna lashes out at Lance for straddling two lanes and boxing Brad in. Diane and Raeanne also get involved in the scuffle as well, and Andrew is also forced to intervene. When the rally resumes, Dean becomes the first person to "finish"; unfortunately, he made three bad lane changes, and Brian failed to make Dean do the extra laps, meaning that he fails. Brad then finishes the rally successfully, but the experts refuse to consider it a true pass, since Donna was controlling Brad's every decision, and he still made four bad lane changes. Lance eventually gives up after getting nearly every lane change wrong, and has to park some distance away from the rest of the group, as Donna is more than ready to pick another fight with him. Jamie, despite making more bad lane changes than anyone except Lance and Dale, eventually manages to get the hang of it, and passes. Diane has easily the best performance on the challenge, as despite her slow and steady pace, she only makes two bad lane changes and finishes the rally with minimal input from Raeanne. Dale is therefore left as the last person on the course, meaning that she automatically fails; adding insult to injury, she still doesn't have any idea how to correctly change lanes.
Drifting Donuts – The challenge first introduced in Canada's Worst Driver 2 returns this episode. Though the challenge requires contestants to do only one donut in 30 minutes, Andrew does two to make up for his miss last year. Jamie steers ahead too often, and fails the challenge. Lance (who mistakenly believes a full circle is 365 degrees), also fails. Brad, with Donna cheering him on, passes with ease, and celebrates with donuts of the edible variety. Dean quickly grows frustrated, and fails. Diane manages to pull out the donut after several attempts. Dale, who had trouble learning the technique (having driven off the lesson course on a large number of occasions), hits the central obstacle repeatedly, and after nearly running Andrew over as a joke, is forced out of the car.
In deliberation, Brad states his case, having snapped after Lance's antics in the Lane Change Rally due to evoking memories of his mother's death; Brad's mother had been killed in a construction accident 20 years ago when she was run over by a dump truck. Lance knows he isn't graduating as a response, but promises to keep his attitude in check. Diane also states her case for graduation. Jamie also wants to graduate based on her performance.
In the end, Brad and Diane make the experts' shortlist due to their similar successes. The initial vote is 3-2 in Diane's favour, but Andrew questions this, as he still feels that Diane needs a little more confidence, whereas Brad's problem is more Donna's controlling behaviour. In the end however, Lauren actually talks Andrew and Cam into also backing Diane, who she points out was indisputably responsible for her own success in the Lane Change rally, whereas Brad performed worse even with Donna's constant advice. Diane therefore gets the unanimous vote to become the season's second graduate.
Web extras for this episode:
Diane's Graduation – Diane reflects on her graduation. She reflects on the basic (and not so basic) skills that she has learned, and that, without it, she would have been crying and at a loss of what to do. She thanks the producers of the series for letting her on the show, and what she has learned through them.
Original airdate: November 29, 2010
The Eye of the Needle – The annual challenge will take place in a right-hand drive Nissan 300ZX, to test the theory that drivers in the past were more likely to collide to the passenger side (which this year would be the left-hand side) when contestants collided with the arches on this course. Dale is quickly confused by the right-hand drive car, and hits every single arch on the passenger side at below the minimum speed of 50 km/h. Contestants only have one attempt at speed, so Dale is permitted another run. In her second run, she hits all the arches on the passenger side again. Lance also fails the challenge after clipping the first and fourth arches on the passenger side and the last on the driver side. Donna's anxiety makes Brad nervous during his run, and he hits the arches every time Donna screams inside the vehicle (which she does twice, once on each side of the car). On Jamie's run, she hits into the third archway so off-center (to the passenger side) and at so high a speed that the windshield nearly shatters (which, up to that point, the show's crew had never even considered possible). Because Jamie had seriously damaged the right-hand drive vehicle, Dean will get to do his run in a left-hand drive Suzuki Swift. He goes flawlessly at 40 km/h, prompting him to try for an 80 km/h run (Andrew's directions had been to drive at the fastest speed that he felt comfortable). He passes easily, much to Brian's surprise.
The Cross – Though the show has tried to avoid using vintage cars for challenges this year, they are forced to use their 1970 Chevrolet Monte Carlo (previously used as Andrew's car in the Lane Change Rally) in this challenge first introduced in Canada's Worst Driver 3 – due to running out of cars from the 1980s and 1990s (so far, four stick-shift cars have burnt clutches, the car from the water-tank challenge is flooded, and many other vehicles have gotten extensively damaged or stuck). Lance quickly scratches the car's doors in his run. Jamie also has trouble through her run, further scratching one side. Dale's ill-health from bleeding gums causes concerns from Andrew, so while she rests through the challenge, Brad takes to the course. Brad makes a perfect run while trying to assuage Donna, though Donna is still noticeably upset as his approach is not necessarily what she would have done if she was behind the wheel herself (a problem that she had been trying to cope with, as a serious shoulder injury has prevented her from driving). Dean finishes the fastest out of the contestants. He only hits one thing, but throughout the run, Brian is scared for his life.
Camaro Challenge: The Trailer Challenge – The contestants must tow a sailboat hooked onto the back of the Camaro. The course consists of a precision forward into a hairpin turn before reversing the boat into the water. Andrew encounters a slight problem on his demonstration run (he makes contact with obstacles on two separate occasions), causing the show's crew to widen the course for everyone else's run. Brad, confident that he will do well – and Donna, confident that they will fight in the car – are at odds through this run. In the end, both are correct: they cooperate through the forward portion, but argue through the reverse. Jamie also encounters problems through her run, asking Eric for directions throughout her run; Eric eventually relents after attempting to keep quiet through much of her run. Despite frustration with the hairpin turn, Dean runs through the course without hitting anything in 6 minutes – on a course where Andrew took 33 minutes. Lance nearly tips the boat over negotiating the hairpin turn as the trailer drives through a stack of hubcaps, and the trailer starts to drag more and more obstacles even before switching from forward to reverse; he even reverses the boat into the adjacent wall as he backs the boat into the water. Dale is uncomfortable through her run, but John advises her through half the run. Though he tries to avoid helping her through the second half, he is nevertheless forced to help her through that as well.
In deliberations, Dean would like to graduate, and Brad also wants to graduate (though he admits that the couple's work on communication is still a major obstacle). Jamie knows she won't graduate after her poor performance in the Eye of the Needle Challenge, and Lance knows he still needs to learn more in order to graduate. Dale also wants to graduate, but her performance says otherwise; Dale claims that her medical issues are preventing her from continuing in her rehab. Dean is at the top of everyone's graduation shortlist, Philippe even claiming that Dean is his only person on his shortlist. Dean graduates, but the experts also believe that Dale's medical problem will prevent her from continuing. Because only one person may leave per episode, Dale is forced to make the final choice. She ultimately chooses to let Dean go free over her own health, making Dean the next to leave the Driver Rehabilitation Centre.
Web extras for this episode:
Dean's Graduation – Dean reflects on his experiences, and that going at high speed can be lethal. He also reflects on the proper posture for driving and how it contributed to not speeding like he had before. Brian also makes notes of Dean's improvements, and Dean summarizes his experiences as "entering as an aggressive driver and leaving as a perfect driver".
Original airdate: December 6, 2010
The Trough – The challenge from Canada's Worst Driver 5 returns. In this course, the contestant must drive a car atop a series of concrete Jersey barriers placed on their side. Contestants must remain on the concrete at all times; if the car slips off or gets stuck, the contestants must start over. Lance is unable to go through the course in the one-hour time limit. Jamie makes it across on her third try after panicking on her first two attempts. Because of the nature of the course, Andrew must accompany Brad. He makes it about three feet from the end in the final run before running out of time and scraping the bottom of the truck. John also sits out on Dale's run due to extreme heat, and Dale promptly gets herself stuck repeatedly.
Distracted Driving – The annual lesson on why distracted driving (especially texting while driving) should not be done has contestants drive a figure-eight course while doing many things at the same time. Dale, who had driven straight through her garage door on one occasion, gets the point easily. Jamie, the contestant from the only province where there is no ban on cell phone use while driving (at the time of taping; a ban is in effect at the time of airing), has never done this, and has never tried this herself. She agrees to try, with predictably disastrous results. Brad, who does not own a phone, tries instead to apply lipstick, with similarly destructive results. Lance doesn't get the point, though, when he is told to apply lipstick, eat, and drink while behind the wheel.
Canada's Worst Cup – In a variation on last year's Shopping Cart Hockey challenge, the contestants must push an oversized soccer ball across a soccer pitch with a car. The ball may bounce off any number of foam defenders, but the car may not hit any of them. Furthermore, when shooting at the goal, the car may not cross the final white line. Dale has trouble controlling the ball initially, but manages to score 8 goals in 15 minutes. Lance repeatedly hits the foam goaltender with his ball, and only gets four goals in his run. Brad accidentally injures Donna in the passenger seat in his run, and thus is disqualified with four minutes left in his run. Jamie complains about Eric talking too much in her run, but she manages to tie Dale for the win with 8 goals.
Camaro Challenge: Handbrake J-Turn – The contestants must take on the traditional challenge in the Camaro this year (but at 60 km/h). Jamie picks up the lesson quickly, but is too nervous come challenge time; she hits the foot brakes repeatedly, and fails her set 7 runs. Again, Andrew will accompany Brad on his run due to Donna's injuries and the nature of the challenge, and Andrew makes Brad do a few dry runs before making his attempts. Brad manages to pass after three attempts (the first two failing due to hitting the foot brake), but Cam is quick to discount Brad's accomplishment, as in his mind Andrew had overstepped his bounds by helping too much. Before Lance's run, though, the rain hits, and so Andrew tells Lance to never accelerate above 70 km/h due to hydroplaning concerns (though Andrew also adds that the course speed limit is now lowered to the standard 50 km/h due to the rain). Lance fails his first three runs by triggering both the handbrake and footbrake before making the turn, and then fails his next three by triggering the handbrake too late. Lance then fails his last chance by failing to find the hand brake (as he had taken his hand off of it). Dale's 7 runs all have her triggering the foot brake (and some of the runs by hitting the obstacles en route to the turning obstacle), prompting her to think that this is beyond her.
Neither Dale nor Lance is graduating for sure, by their own admissions. Jamie admits that Brad is the better driver, but Brad believes that he's bound for the final three. The experts are again split on who to let go. In another 3-2 split decision, Jamie takes the prize, meaning that she can avoid driving Andrew around Niagara Falls, and avoid being named Canada's Worst Driver.
Web extras for this episode:
Jamie's Graduation – Jamie expresses surprise at her graduation and managing to avoid the final three. She also talks about her thoughts of her experience on the show, and she credits passing the high-speed challenges as key to improving her confidence. Eric also comments on Jamie being a better driver, which means that he would not have to escort Jamie around as much.
Original airdate: December 13, 2010
The Gimbal – The first challenge has the contestants all together in the same Plymouth Reliant "K-car" station wagon as they attempt to balance on top of a gimbal. Lance narrowly avoids running out of time, balancing out 17 seconds before the 30-minute time limit. He also helps Dale finish in 8:30. Brad finishes in 5:41 in uncharacteristic silence.
Camaro Challenge: The Mega-Challenge – The Camaro forms the second leg of the annual final exam challenge. In the Mustang leg, contestants must take a sharp turn at a corner before proceeding to a precision forward and reverse course. They then have 5 minutes to perform one drifting donut before switching to the Camaro, where they must perform an Eye of the Needle, a slalom, and a handbrake turn, before balancing on the teeter-totter. Brad takes the corner too late, but manages to make the donut. However, Donna's sudden outburst after accompanying him in silence through the first leg makes him suddenly stop after crashing through the last two arches in the Eye of the Needle, making him unable to make speed for the handbrake turn. He punches the steering wheel in frustration, hurting his fist. Neither Lance nor Dale passes any portion of the Mustang leg, but Dale makes a slightly better run in the Camaro, balancing on the teeter-totter on the first try; Lance had gotten too fast on the Eye of the Needle and slalom portions, and only managed a 3/4 turn in the handbrake turn. Despite her hitting the most objects, Dale's run is judged the best since she kept her cool throughout and applied the lessons she'd been taught, though it's noted that all three runs were relatively poor and that the three remaining drivers are essentially equal going into the Road Test.
The Final Road Test – This was originally meant to be done in the Camaro, but that car is too badly damaged to be legally driven on public roads. Instead, the road test is done in a Porsche Boxster in the streets of Niagara Falls, Ontario, modified with a limiter to prevent sudden bursts of acceleration. Lance gets into an anxiety attack shortly after the first turn, and his challenge is called off, due to Andrew believing Lance needs medical assistance. For Brad's run, Donna is beside him in the passenger seat, while Andrew is in a chase car. Despite going off course, Donna and Brad manage to maintain composure, and their run finishes with a minimal number of incidents, none of which were moving violations. For Dale, she makes a moving violation less than five minutes in, and the moving violations keep on racking up: by the end of her run, she makes 19 moving violations, which would have cost $2,532 in fines, had a police officer seen them all.
In deliberation, Dale says that she has learned a lot, but her results say otherwise. However, the experts give her credit for finally admitting that she has severe issues behind the wheel, and that regardless of whether or not she's named Canada's Worst Driver, she still has a massive amount to learn. The experts congratulate Brad and Donna for the improvements in their relationship that have led to better driving, but they question whether Lance's anxiety, which he claims to be unrelated to his driving, could be affecting him. Lauren suggests that he see a psychiatrist, but Lance snaps at her and says he doesn't need any more help, which proves to be the final straw as far as the experts are concerned. In the end, after 20 minutes of deliberation, the experts arrive at a unanimous decision. Brad, having been shortlisted twice and having made relatively few mistakes in the Road Test, is the final graduate. Dale does not graduate, but by virtue of at least managing to finish the Road Test (despite her numerous errors), avoids being named Canada's Worst Driver. However, the experts feel that she should not drive until she is retested, and in an unusual move, Andrew refuses to allow her to drive herself home and has John do it instead (usually, the runner-up is allowed to drive themselves home). Lance, by virtue of having failed to complete the Road Test and refusing to acknowledge the issues which cause him so much trouble on the road, is named Canada's Worst Driver.
