Canada's Worst Driver (season 1)
| Canada's Worst Driver | |
|---|---|
 Canada's Worst Driver Logo | |
| Developed by | Proper Television |
| Presented by | Andrew Younghusband |
| Narrated by | Andrew Younghusband |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes (including commercials) |
| Release | |
| Original network | Discovery Channel Canada |
| Original release | October 3 – November 21, 2005 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | Season 2 |
| Related shows |
Canada's Worst Handyman Britain's Worst Driver America's Worst Driver |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Canada's Worst Driver 1 was the first-ever season of the Canadian reality TV show Canada's Worst Driver, which aired on the Discovery Channel, based on the UK Channel 4 Television Corporation's Britain's Worst Driver. As with subsequent 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 the CFB Picton, a decommissioned military base near Picton, Ontario that closed down in 1969, with the final road test taking place in Montreal, Quebec.
Experts
- Dr. Uzma Rehman was a behavioural psychologist and a faculty member at Queen's University.
- Jim Kenzie is an automotive journalist and president of the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada. He also reviews vehicles for the Toronto Star newspaper. Since 1988, he also has an editorial-like segment on TSN's "Motoring" program, now in its 20th season. He wrote the textbook for advanced driver training used by the Toronto Police Service and other advanced training classes and is widely recognized as a vehicle expert.
- Scott Marshall was the Director of Training for Young Drivers of Canada. His job was to train the instructors who train drivers.
- Kelly Williams was a Canadian CASCAR driver and the only female to win a race in that series. She has also been the spokesperson for "Be Car Care Aware," an auto safety organization.
Contestants
- Madalena Phillips, 21 and licensed for five years, from Toronto, Ontario, had been in well over 30 accidents as well as innumerable incidents she called "bumps" when there were no witnesses. Despite this, her parents still paid for her car insurance, over $9,000 per year. Her irresponsible driving was largely due to a complete lack of concern about anything except shopping, partying and fashion. She was by and large an incompetent driver by choice and considered it part of her lifestyle. Madalena was nominated by her best friend, Jennifer. She drives a black Pontiac Sunfire GT.
- Robert "Bob" Coad, 36 and licensed for 20 years, from Guelph, Ontario, was an otherwise excellent driver, except for a tendency towards road rage and a little freeway game he called "bumper tag." This involved passing cars that he was annoyed at and suddenly slamming on his brakes in front of them, forcing them to panic brake to avoid a collision. Bob was nominated by his buddy, Rob. He drives a red Chevrolet Lumina.
- Christopher "Chris" Ferguson, 31 and licensed for 13 years, from Malton, Ontario, was totally inexperienced behind the wheel, having driven only five times in the 13 years since getting his license. He was insecure and very slow while driving, creating a hazard on the road. Chris was nominated by his wife, Michelle Ferguson. He drives a black Mitsubishi Lancer and drove a Chevrolet Cobalt to the rehab centre.
- David Chau, 24 and licensed for five years, from Toronto, Ontario, attributed his driving problems to being "unlucky" and refused to take responsibility for his incompetence on the road. His driving errors during the program often completely destroyed the cars used for the show. He would listen to-- and then blame-- his passengers for bad driving advice. David was nominated by his buddy, George. He drives a red Chrysler Intrepid and drove a Mitsubishi Lancer to the rehab centre.
- Faith-Ann Stone, 30 and licensed for 14 years, from Niagara Falls, Ontario, had been in 37 reported accidents in the 14 years since getting her license, including hitting a woman she didn't even know on two separate occasions. She was reckless and drove far too fast, in spite of having been laid-up for six months by a collision two years earlier. She was independently nominated by four different people to be on the show. Her issues largely arose from lack of proper driving instruction and her cavalier attitude towards driving. Faith-Ann's co-worker, Joanne, represented herself and the three other people who nominated Faith-Ann. She drives a silver 2005 Jeep Liberty.
- Heather Reynolds, 59 and licensed for 30 years, from Medicine Hat, Alberta, had written off ten cars in 20 years. During the series, it was discovered that due to having 20/100 vision, meaning she could only see 20% as good as other people, most of her troubles were caused by not having a proper prescription for her glasses. Like Chris, she was not reckless, but dangerously slow due to lack of confidence in her driving. Heather was nominated by her husband, Ernie, a former truck driver. She drives a beige Chevrolet Venture and drove a blue Chevrolet Epica to the rehab centre.
- Manuel Tejeda, 36 and licensed for six years, from Calgary, Alberta, had difficulties with over-thinking everything he did while driving until it was too late. He also had a problem with his temper, causing him to lose control when he failed during driving lessons. Manuel was nominated by his co-worker, Alex. He drives a silver Nissan Altima and drove a red Chevrolet Impala to the rehab centre.
- Tatiana Rheaume, 42 and licensed for 22 years, from Ajax, Ontario (originally from Bulgaria), was involved in a serious car accident that turned a competent driver into a paranoid wreck behind the wheel. She drove hazardously slow on freeways and refused to make left turns, which were involved in her car accident, often dangerously bunching up traffic and driving in the wrong lane. Tatiana was nominated by her mother-in-law, Beth. She drives a black Mazda Protege and drove a red Chevrolet Cavalier to the rehab centre.
Summaries
| Contestant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Ferguson | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | CWD |
| Madalena Phillips | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | RUNNER-UP |
| Heather Reynolds | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT |
| Manuel Tejeda | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | |
| David Chau | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | ||
| Faith Ann Stone | IN | IN | IN | OUT | ||||
| Tatiana Rheaume | IN | IN | OUT | |||||
| Bob Coad | IN | OUT | ||||||
- The contestant became Canada's Worst Driver.
- The contestant was the runner-up for Canada's Worst Driver.
- The contestant graduated.
Episode 1
- Original airdate: October 3, 2005
- Arriving to Rehab: In the season premiere, the eight candidates and the four experts are introduced. As in subsequent seasons of the show, each bad driver must drive themselves and their nominators to the Driver Rehabilitation Centre.
- First to Arrive: David was the first to leave and the first to arrive.
- Last to Arrive: Madalena became the last.
- Slowest to Arrive: Madalena is also the slowest to arrive. During her drive, she tried to do a U-turn, but went off-course into a ditch, asking others to put her car back on the road. Eventually, she also crashes into a rock, causing damage to the front bumper of her car. She had arrived at three hours.
- Fastest to Arrive: Bob was the last to leave, but the second to arrive.
- Skills Evaluation: The drivers must stop in front of a wall without hitting it, driving a green Mercury Grand Marquis. The drivers had two attempts at this; in the first attempt, Scott put up a traffic control light to warn the drivers when to brake. The second attempt tested whether the drivers would stop before hitting the wall with the light not tuned on. Most of the drivers ran into the wall in their second attempt.
- Best Performer: Chris and Heather were the only two people who had passed this challenge, but Chris doing slightly better.
- Worst Performer: David has done the worst out of everyone, going through the wall and did not stop from the wall in a very long distance and had killed the vehicle.
Episode 2
- Original airdate: October 10, 2005
- Water Tank Challenge: The drivers are taught gentle braking in this challenge, where water is placed in a tank over a car. The objective of the challenge is to maneuver the car around an obstacle course (complete with several surprises), with jerky braking causing the water to overflow from the tank, soaking the occupants in the car.
- Fastest Performer: Bob performed the fastest at 5:01.
- Slowest Performer: Madalena performed the slowest at 12:20.
Despite doing poorly in the water tank challenge, Bob's admirable performance in a parallel parking challenge and flawless result during a night-time challenge, shows that he can be patient and he becomes the first-ever graduate. He also received the highest score in street sign identification with a perfect 5/5, while Heather scores the worst with only one sign correct.
Episode 3
- Original airdate: October 17, 2005
Tatiana's confidence from driving at increased speeds in the "Eye of the Needle" challenge makes her the second graduate. All the other contestants, including speed addict Faith-Ann, did not do as well in the challenge (Madalena's performance was not shown). Andrew also points out that the passenger side is where the car usually gets hit during the challenge, claiming that the drivers are selfish and only care about their own safety rather than their passengers' safety.
Episode 4
- Original airdate: October 24, 2005
Faith Ann's confidence in an uphill driving challenge convinces the experts that she should be the third graduate.
Episode 5
- Original airdate: October 31, 2005
In a surprising twist, the judges decide that no one graduates due to overall poor performance by all candidates.
Episode 6
- Original airdate: November 7, 2005
David's leadership ability in an ice-themed challenge makes him the fourth graduate.
Episode 7
- Original airdate: November 14, 2005
Aided by a flawless effort in a challenge that was specifically tightened so as to try to make him lose his temper, Manuel becomes the next driver to graduate. The other contestants, though (especially Chris), are ticked off that Manuel graduated and not them. They thought that Manuel's driving was not any better than theirs.
Episode 8
- Original airdate: November 21, 2005
The final drive has each of the three finalists driving Andrew through downtown Montreal. Madalena is the first to take the final drive, which goes south almost immediately, as it is revealed before the drive starts that Madalena partied hard the previous night and she complains about the car being used. It also shows that Madalena spent too much time partying and not enough time resting up for the final drive, because Madalena passes out as soon as she reaches Mont Royal. Upon reaching the finish line near Notre-Dame Basilica, Andrew reprimands Madalena for not taking responsibility and constantly treating rehab like a joke. Heather is next and her drive goes relatively well, considering Ernie remained quiet throughout. Chris is the final driver to take the final drive and gets off to a good start, managing everything up until he reaches Mont Royal flawlessly. Shortly after that, however, he starts making careless mistakes such as turning left when he was supposed to be turning right, failing to check his blind spot when an unmarked cop car comes up alongside him on the right and ending up having to turn around in the Rosemont bus terminal. As if that wasn't enough, when he got back on track, he continues making mistakes such as running a red light and cutting off a driver when heading to the finish line. At the trophy ceremony, Andrew names Heather as the final graduate for her solid road test and generally performing well throughout the season. After Heather leaves, Andrew announces that, in the end, Chris is named Canada's Worst Driver, judging his inexperience behind the wheel to be a worse sin than Madalena's poor attitude during the season. While Madalena leaves without graduating, a follow-up episode revealed that Madalena's father purchased her a new BMW.
Episode 9
After competition review episode. Taking clips from the other episodes, a series of "lessons" is provided to illustrate the "Don'ts" of driving.
Episode 10
Special – Canada's Worst Drivers vs. The World compiled clips from the show and clips from other shows of the "Worst Driver" franchise, to show which driver is the worst of the worlds' worst from the competitions.