Canada's Worst Driver 2

Infobox Television
show_name = Canada's Worst Driver 2


caption =
format = Reality television
runtime = 60 minutes (including commercials)
creator =
developer = Proper Television
producer =
executive_producer =
presenter = Andrew Younghusband
narrated = Andrew Younghusband
opentheme =
endtheme =
country = CAN
language = English
network = Discovery Channel Canada
first_aired = October 16, 2006
last_aired = December 4, 2006
num_episodes = 8
list_episodes =
chronology =
preceded_by = Canada's Worst Driver
followed_by = Canada's Worst Driver 3
related = Canada's Worst Handyman Britain's Worst Driver
website =
imdb_id =
tv_com_id =

"Canada's Worst Driver 2" is the second season of "Canada's Worst Driver", a Discovery Channel Canada television series which seeks to improve the driving skills of eight selected contestants, who are also trying to avoid being named the show's eponymous and dubious title. In this series, eight contestants and their nominators arrive at the "Driver Rehabilitation Centre", located on the grounds of CFB Borden, where the contestants' keys are confiscated. Over the course of several weeks, the contestants take on challenges designed to improve their driving skills. Starting with the second episode and at the end of each subsequent episode thereafter, the most improved driver, as determined by host Andrew Younghusband and a panel of judges, may choose to graduate a contestant, in which case the contestant is no longer considered to be in the running for Canada's Worst Driver. This continues until three contestants remain, where one final challenge will determine who among them is Canada's Worst Driver

Unlike the previous season, which focused on winter driving conditions, this season focuses on summer driving skills. Also, the Driver Rehabilitation Program is one week shorter, guaranteeing that at least three contestants remain in the final episode (in the first season, three contestants were in the final episode after no one graduated in one episode).

Judges

Returning from the first season is head instructor Scott Marshall of Young Drivers of Canada, the driving school sponsoring the Driver Rehabilitation Program and "Canada's Worst Driver". Joining him are the following three judges:
* Marcus Agyeman is an insurance broker who has insured the worst of the worst at his insurance company, and provides a financial standpoint to the judging table.
* Juliana Chiovitti is a go-kart racing instructor, and has an illustrious career in auto racing, including a 4th-place finish in the Formula 2000 series.
* Sgt. Cam Woolley of the Ontario Provincial Police's Highway Safety Division specializing in traffic-related incidents, investigating traffic crimes and collisions while promoting public awareness of traffic safety. He has escorted world leaders, royalty, and the Pope through some of Ontario's major highways, and is considered to be the face of the OPP.

Contestants

The eight contestants for this edition of "Canada's Worst Driver" are:
* Karen Carson, 49 and licensed for 28 years, from Port Perry, Ontario, was once confident as a driver but is now too terrified to drive. When she does drive with her husband, it leads to fighting in the car. As a result, she has not driven at all for over a year, and has not driven on a highway for longer. She is nominated by husband Allan, a police officer.
* Matt Elkind, 29 and licensed for 13 years, from Toronto, Ontario, is a real estate agent who, because of his busy lifestyle, likes to multitask, so much so that he could be eating, smoking, reading a map, sending email, and talking on a cell phone while driving with his knees. He steadfastly refuses to wear a seatbelt, as he believes it is the key reason why his life was saved in a car crash. He is nominated by friend Suzanne, a fashion executive.
* Henrietta Gallant, 61 and licensed for 35 years, from Rockland, Ontario, suffers from extreme stress while at the wheel, leading to many accidents. She is nominated by husband Andy, a civil servant.
* Sean McConnell, 43 and licensed for 27 years, from Stratford, Ontario, is a champion video game racecar driver, having won an online competition, but uses the same techniques he uses while playing the game when driving in real life. He believes that he is safer by driving above the speed limit as it keeps him away from other bad drivers, and treats every stop as the start of a race. He is nominated by his niece Melena.
* Colin Sheppard, 20 and licensed for 3 years, from Whitby, Ontario, He is nominated by his friend Jeremy, an independent distributor.
* Jodi Slobodesky, 31 and licensed for 15 years, from Steinbach, Manitoba, is easily frustrated behind the wheel, and becomes a driving hazard as a result. On occasions she begins to forget basic driving notions such as the meaning of a green light. She is nominated by her husband Sam, an auto body technician.
* Michael Telford, 40 and licensed for 24 years, from Burnaby, British Columbia, took nine attempts to get his driver's license, and cannot deal with surprises while driving. He also has a tendency to hold his breath when entering a tunnel and continue to hold it until he exits. He is nominated by his friend Eric.
* Shannon Willemsen, 22 and licensed for 5 years, from Calgary, Alberta, is a student and a mother to be who enjoys totaling cars. She has twelve demerits on her license, two away from having her license revoked, while having accumulated over $10,000 in parking tickets, including a $489 ticket for driving at 60 km/h over the speed limit. Her cars last on average three to six months before being totaled, and at this rate she may not afford to drive for much longer due to accumulated debts from tickets and rising insurance costs. She is nominated by her best friend Sara.

Episodes

:colorbox|limegreen (OUT) The driver has graduated, and is out of the running for Canada's Worst Driver.:colorbox|violet (EXPL) The driver was expelled from the Driver Rehabilitation Centre, and is out of the running for Canada's Worst Driver.:colorbox|red (CWD) The driver was ultimately named Canada's Worst Driver.

:fnb|1As is the case with the previous season, no one graduates in the first episode, as it serves merely as a skills evaluation.:fnb|2The judges considered Sean to be the episode's graduation candidate, but decided not to graduate anyone because Sean refused to admit that driving slower was safer.:fnb|3Sean graduated immediately after Jodi, on the condition that he be readmitted to the Driver Rehabilitation Program should he be caught speeding.

Episode 1

*Arriving to Rehab: At Wasaga Beach, Ontario, the eight contestants must drive to the Driver Rehabilitation Centre, following a 40-kilometre course, which, if properly navigated, would take no more than one hour to complete. Maps and written instructions are provided for each contestant. To avoid the notion of a race, the contestants are given staggered starts. Henrietta is the first to leave, followed by Jodi, Matt, Karen, Michael, Colin, Shannon, and Sean.
**First to Arrive: Matt is the first to arrive, doing so in 55 minutes. However, he makes 10 moving violations along the way, including an illegal U-turn.
**Fastest to Arrive: Colin, despite a promise to Andrew to obey all speed laws, makes enough moving violations (29) to have his license revoked en route, but does arrive in 40 minutes.
*Skills Evaluation: In the skills evaluation, the drivers must take their car (a 1978 AMC Pacer) and steer through a tight precision-steering course before accelerating to somewhere between 40 km/h and 50 km/h and taking one of two possible exits, one of which is too short for their car and their roof-mounted cargo: a canoe and a tricycle. Afterwards, they must park their car in reverse, making sure that the canoe does not crash into the wall behind them. As an added surprise, a car at the start of the challenge is rigged to have its doors open whenever the car comes near, which the drivers must avoid.
**Best Performer: Sean, despite feeling that this is a race, hits the fewest obstacles with 15 (including the door), all of which were in the precision portion. The speed portion and the parking portions in his run went without incident.
**Worst Performer: Colin is easily the worst, due to wanting to trash the Pacer more than completing the course (though, as it was revealed in a later episode, he does manage to eventually finish), which he does by intentionally hitting the obstacles in the precision portion. In short, he does not even try the challenge. Of the contestants that do, though, Karen, aided via direct orders by Allan, hits the obstacles 49 times, including a concrete barrier on the high-speed portion.
**Fastest Performer: Matt is the fastest to finish at 3 minutes, but hits the door, struggled through the precision portion, and chooses the wrong exit. In total, he hits 28 obstacles.
**Slowest Performer: Jodi visibly breaks down partway though the precision portion, and it takes Jodi three attempts through the high-speed portion due to not maintaining speed. Although it takes her 56 minutes to complete (with 18 hit obstacles), she is the only contestant to miss the door.

Episode 2

* Parallel Parking: The drivers must drive a Winnebago up a hill in reverse, and then parallel park it between two luxury vehicles - a Cadillac in front and a BMW behind. Andrew is seated in the BMW, and is kept in communication with the motor home.
**Best Performer: Neither Karen, Shannon, nor Michael hit either car in their attempts, though Shannon hits the fewest number of obstacles among the three with four. Sean, the fastest at the task, manages to park in only two attempts (although his end result is that one wheel is not on solid ground).
**Worst Performer: Neither Matt nor Jodi finish the challenge: for Matt, his first attempt was good, but he ended up being parallel to where he wanted to park, and chooses to pull out and retry from the beginning, rather than adjust his vehicle slowly. However, each of Matt's attempts were worse than the one before. For Jodi, she parks in such a way so as to hit the Cadillac in the event of brake failure. Of the contestants that do manage to park, Henrietta had the most hits and made the most attempts, largely because she had never parallel parked before in her life.
* Eye of the Needle: In this traditional challenge, the contestants must go through a series of box archways and between columns of boxes, first at 30 km/h and then at 60 km/h.
**Best Performer: Matt managers to do both runs without destroying any boxes, but clips the right-side mirror in both runs. Michael does not hit anything at all, but had to redo his fast run for failing to maintain speed.
**Worst Performer: Once again, Colin fails to try in this challenge, choosing to drive at over 60 km/h in his "slow" run, though he does not hit anything. Of the contestants that did make an attempt to do the challenge as instructed, Henrietta is by far the worst - as it turns out, her 20/100 vision requires her to wear glasses to drive, which she does not do. Thus, she crashes into boxes even in her slow run, where she drives at 19 km/h. Also notable is Jodi, who is the first contestant in the series to hit an obstacle on the driver's side.
* Driving Distracted: Matt's stellar performance in the Eye of the Needle seemed to indicate that he is a better driver without the distractions. To demonstrate this point, a course was set up specifically for him. There, while driving three laps around a narrow track, he does not hit any obstacles, but hits 13 of the 43 obstacles once given a cell phone, a CD, a sandwich, and a drink.
* Crazy Eights: In this challenge, the contestants must reverse through a figure-eight obstacle course, two contestants at a time. The contestants start at one end of the obstacle course, and the only places in the course where there is enough room to pass the other car is in the middle and at the other end of the course. Henrietta and Karen have the first heat, while Matt and Jodi have the second. Speed demons Sean and Colin have the third heat, and Michael and Shannon round out the fourth heat.
**Best Performer: Matt and Sean both hit two obstacles each: for Matt, he hits one on the way to the halfway point, and the other as he was shutting down his car, while Sean makes his two hits on the way to the halfway point. Sean is also the fastest to finish at just over four minutes, while Matt finished in just under 30 minutes, due to having to wait for Jodi at the halfway point (Matt even trying to help her get there faster). Matt had also tried to assist Jodi in finishing after he was himself complete. Jodi herself managed only three hits.
**Worst Performer: Andy and Allan were instructed by Andrew to count the number of obstacles that their nominees would hit, but it only served to frustrate Henrietta and Karen - to the point that both demanded that their husbands be ejected from their cars as both contestants were passing each other. Both would finish in under an hour, though. Also notable was that Colin had trashed the course again (though after finishing with the second-fastest time) due to having lost to Sean in their "race".
**Slowest Performer: Neither Michael nor Shannon had managed to make it to the middle of the course on the way to the halfway point after 40 minutes, forcing Andrew to teach the two how to adjust their vehicle with "S-bends". For Shannon in particular, it had proven to be a valuable lesson.

Episode 3

* Road Signs: In a test of their road sign knowledge administered by head instructor Scott Marshall, it was found that many of the remaining candidates did not know even some of the most basic signs. Sean, however, did manage to get all seven signs correct. * Driving in a Straight Line: The contestants had to drive forward up a ramp in a straight line, then reverse down the ramp in a straight line. Michael, Sean, and Shannon finish without incident, while Henrietta had to repeatedly adjust when reversing. Jodi's car, however, goes off the side of the ramp.
* Driving into a Wall: In this traditional challenge, the contestants are told by head instructor Scott Marshall to accelerate towards a wall of boxes, then brake, with the objective being not to hit them. Although the runs were not particularly memorable (aside from Karen smashing through the boxes in her run), the biggest news to come out of the challenge was that Shannon was in fact pregnant, a fact that she told the judges after her run (as the judges reveal afterwards that they would not have let Shannon make her run had she told them about her pregnancy beforehand).
* Packing Up: In this challenge, the contestants must properly pack items in a station wagon situated in a campsite, and, after reversing out of the campsite, proceed forwards with another car blaring its horn behind them (in each run, Andrew will be driving this car). The drivers then find themselves between the car and an ambulance, and must soon reverse to clear the way for the emergency vehicle to pass through (the chase car will also reverse to make room). For this challenge, drivers are paired with different nominators to see whether their overbearing husbands impact Henrietta's, Jodi's, and Karen's driving abilities - Jodi is paired with Jeremy, Karen with Eric, Michael with Sam, Colin with Sara, Sean with Andy, Shannon with Andy, and Henrietta with Melena.
**Fastest Performer: Sean finishes the fastest by finishing in 2:55, but also managed to impress the judges when he was forced to repair the car (thinking that this was part of the challenge) when its battery cable came loose a result from Colin's run immediately before his. Also notable is Shannon's run, where she chooses to pull over in reverse (meaning that she did not back up at all).
**Slowest Performer: Henrietta and Melena, not knowing how to open the car's rear door, pack their items to leave virtually no visibility, and as a result gets their car stuck as the ambulance nears. Of all the contestants who do finish, Jodi is by far the slowest at nearly 30 minutes. However, Michael and Colin finish their runs with ticketable offences: Michael because he had accidentally left a first aid kit on the roof of his car and forgot to pack it before starting his run, and Colin from sitting on the car door with half his body outside of the car while trying to impress a clearly bemused Sara.
* Driving Distracted: Because the challenge was so effective on Matt in the previous episode, the same challenge was done again for other contestants (Henrietta and Jodi being exempt). Here, the drivers had to drive three laps around a narrow track while putting a CD into their car stereo, eating a sandwich, drinking Gatorade, make a phone call, and putting on lipstick. Sean and Michael both stated that they wouldn't do these things while driving, while Shannon is grateful for the lesson due to her pregnancy. Colin does not see the point in the lesson, but manages to knock fewer obstacles (five) than most of the others (Michael had the fewest with four). Karen, being the wife of a police officer, makes the note that she would report anyone who tried any of this to the police.
* Canada's Worst Gas Station: In this musical chairs-like challenge, the seven drivers have to manage to find spaces in six pumps at a makeshift gas station with two entrances. At the start, three pumps are occupied and three are empty, with the three cars in occupied pumps serving as obstacles - one car (driven by Scott Marshall) will back into a parking stall before leaving, while the other two blocker cars will repeatedly leave and enter the same pump until their spaces are occupied. The seven cars are initially arranged in a line, with Karen and Henrietta on the outside, with Jodi and Michael next to them, while Sean has the initial disadvantage with his car in the center, with Shannon and Colin on either side. Despite the initial disadvantage, Sean finds an opening, beating Jodi and Shannon to one entrance. Karen, against her husband's advice to secure one unoccupied pump, manages to secure another one. Sean would fill the space that Allan had pointed out, while Henrietta secures the last vacant pump. Scott's departure allows Shannon to secure a pump, though in leaving Henrietta is forced to move her car slightly. Jodi could not beat a blocker car to the pump, although she manages to take the pump vacated by the other blocker car (despite some parking trouble). Colin was left the odd man out after allowing Jodi to take the spot at a pump that he had already been sitting in when he saw how much trouble she was having with the exercise. After numerous block attempts against Colin from the 3rd party drivers in the exercise, Michael finally managed to take the final spot.

Episode 4

* Water Tank Challenge: The drivers are taught gentle braking in this challenge, where a 500 litres of water are 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. Although everyone was soaked with at least 200 litres of water out of the tank, the worst came with Michael's 375 litres lost.
* Following Directions: The drivers, in a navigation challenge, are given a list of 19 turns to be made around CFB Borden, and had up to 40 minutes to complete the task. Shannon finishes without any issues, also finishing the fastest at 20 minutes, with Jodi, Sean, and Colin also managing to finish despite having headed off-course (Sean and Colin had also sped in an effort to cut time and get back on course). Michael, although taking nine minutes to take meticulous notes on the 19 turns, distrusts his notes and fails to finish, while Henrietta's vision problems leads her to do the same.
* Swerving: The drivers practice swerving on three varying surfaces: mud, gravel, and coated asphalt. Jodi is convinced she failed all three, but actually passed the asphalt (and was the only driver to do so), while Shannon is the only driver to pass the mud portion. Shannon, however, fishtails horribly after accidentally putting too much gas when attempting to swerve on gravel, although Sean and Michael do so successfully. Henrietta fails all three tests, but worst of all was Colin: it had appeared upon closer inspection that he intentionally failed all three courses - he swerved with only one hand on the wheel in mud, locked up his brakes on gravel, and accelerated when told to brake on the asphalt. Although he is convinced that he duped everyone with this stunt, Sgt. Woolley does not fall for it, and he is also caught by his fellow contestants, all of whom are convinced he would be among the final three.

Episode 5

* The Dirty Circle: The drivers have to reverse their car into a pile of mud, surrounded by all sides in a moat. While in the mud, they must perform a full 360-degree turn, then drive forwards out the way they came. Henrietta was the first to go, and gets stuck in the moat on the way to the circle. After rescuing her out, she manages to complete the course, but cannot see how someone could not reverse into the moat. Henrietta would be in the seat next to Jodi, and each driver would be in the passenger seat of the person going after them. Henrietta would help Jodi in her run, while Michael, with Jodi in the passenger seat, manage to turn 180 degrees one way and 180 degrees the other way before realizing that he had not in fact made a full 360. Michael and Shannon argue in the car (although Shannon would make the fewest turns with 12), while Sean manages to finish the course the fastest (4:25).
* Scavenger Hunt: In this nighttime navigational challenge, the contestants become the navigators while the nominators drive the car. Each driver must reach a post office, a store named Utopia, get a flag, buy a pizza, retrieve a party bag, and head to "Canada's Worst Party," held by Andrew. In an added twist, all of the cars begin with a flat tire, which Sean notices right away. Although Sean is the first to repair the flat tire, Henrietta and Jodi reach the post office first, and Sean eventually also reaches there thanks to meeting Henrietta (en route to Utopia) while trying to find his way to the post office. Shannon is the last one out, but Michael is the last one to the post office, despite Sara being pulled over for speeding. Meanwhile, Henrietta manages to retrieve the flag and pizza while Jodi is patiently awaiting hers. Sean retrieves the party bag while waiting for the pizza, but gets lost on the way back to the pizza place. Jodi, Sean, and Henrietta manage to finish in under four hours. As Michael waits for his pizza, Shannon comes in. Trying to avoid another flareup, Michael decides to wait outside - a decision proven costly as Shannon steals Michael's pizza, and finishes in five hours. Michael and Eric miss out on the party.
* Driving in Britain: The challenge is to drive an obstacle course using a manual transmission Land Rover made for driving on the left side of the road. Sean, due to his experience in driving stick shift, performs flawlessly - to the point where some of the judges were impressed with his performance. Shannon and Henrietta also have experience driving stick shift, but neither were as successful - Henrietta had managed stall the engine 33 times. Jodi also had problems on her run, due to Sam believing erroneously that the first gear position was actually the third gear. Michael learned a lot from the challenge, although he stalled the engine five times, rolled backwards, and hurt himself looking over his left shoulder.

Episode 6

* Extreme Off-road: Aided by Sgt. Dan Andrews, the drivers have an off-road obstacle course challenge consisting of very steep ups and downs. While Shannon was ordered to go slow due to her pregnancy, Sean chose to drive conservatively, creating the impression to Sgt. Andrews that he is too slow. On the other hand, Henrietta and Michael both drive quickly. Henrietta, however, gets stuck going up a hill, while Michael believes he may be too slow to react. Jodi shows dramatic improvement, and created the impression that she was experienced at driving off-road.
* Blindfold Driving: The drivers will help their blindfolded nominators drive through an obstacle course, which contains a straightaway that they will have to drive at over 40 km/h. The drivers will also have 30 minutes to complete the course. Sean is again conservative in this challenge, telling Melena to stop 123 times and instructing her in great detail on the straightaway, which pays off as they finish without hitting anything and under the time limit. This cannot be said about Michael, whose communication breaks down just prior to the straightaway, or Henrietta, whose driving causes Andy to go into a ditch during a straightaway run. Shannon hits 71 obstacles on the way to the finish, never telling Sara to stop and adjust.
* Stunt Driving: Henrietta, Michael, and Jodi are taught by Juliana Chiovitti on how to do burnouts and donuts, and each of them do reasonably well. Sam, in particular, is impressed by Jodi's performance. Sean races (and loses) against Juliana in a go-kart race, while Shannon installs a rear-facing baby seat in a car. Although Shannon gives up after accidentally installing the seat backwards, she realizes that she still has time to learn.
* High-Speed Slalom: In this challenge, drivers must go at least 70 km/h while avoiding boxes that are thrown from a truck in front of them before going into a merge lane and out of the way of the truck. Henrietta fails to maintain speed on the first run, and hits four boxes in her second. Jodi, more confident than ever, does so well on her run (hitting only two boxes) that she wants to do it again at 100 km/h - a far cry from the first episode where it took her three tries to take a car up to 40 km/h. She celebrates her newfound confidence with more donuts. Michael fails his first run, but upon finding out Jodi did a 100 km/h run particularly well, he opts to go for another run at 90 km/h, but crashes merging off of the course. Sean is particularly spooked by the challenge, failing to maintain speed, although he manages to admit that slower is indeed safer.

Episode 7

* Trailer Parking: In this challenge, drivers have 60 minutes to reverse a truck with a trailer into a parking space in a campsite, while being assisted by their fellow contestants. Although Shannon loses her patience when her trailer repeatedly jackknives, she finishes the fastest in under 50 minutes with 32 attempts. Michael, on the other hand, does not finish in time. Henrietta takes 42 attempts and finishes with seconds to spare.
* Mega-Challenge: This challenge consists of multiple parts, incorporating elements from every previous challenge, including high-speed driving, braking, reversal, driving off-road, and navigating tight mazes. Shannon is forced to redo two different portions, while Michael fails four, including running over Andrew's "mother." Henrietta finishes the fastest at just over 30 minutes. However, all three drivers hit at least 30 stationary obstacles in the course.
* The Ultimate Road Test: Drivers must navigate a 27km course involving 33 turns through downtown Toronto in a state-of-the-art car (Smart Fortwo) known for maneuverability and high safety rating. Shannon goes through the course with 9 moving violations resulting from stopping in the middle of intersections just as the lights turn red. Henrietta goes off course, committing numerous violations as they attempt to get back on course. Halfway through the course, though, her stress goes past the breaking point, and as a result is unable to finish. Michael also gets lost, and the fact that he fails to check a blindspot nearly leads to an accident. Michael finishes with 6 moving violations in 3 hours.

Episode 8

In this season's recap episode, Andrew explains the specific dont's of driving, as illustrated by the contestants.

External links

* [http://www.discoverychannel.ca/shows/showdetails.aspx?sid=29 "Canada's Worst Driver 2" homepage]