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Canada's Worst Driver: Difference between revisions
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A Canadian [[Reality Show]] which focuses on rehabilitating the worst drivers in [[Canada, Eh?|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]]. [[Subverted Trope|They're no worse than the other contestants.]] The show started in September 2005 and
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* [[The Alleged Car]]: Mike from Season 5 bought these exclusively.
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* [[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
* [[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. {{spoiler|he also was the only one to score a goal, aside from Andrew Younghusband himself.}}
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** 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! [[Broken Treasure|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
** 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
* [[Downer Ending]]
** Donna from Season 4 turned out to have a heart ailment and had to leave the show.
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** 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.<ref>His car was too small to fit both his nominator and a cameraman.</ref>
* [[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 [[Subverted Trope|have had no problems]]. The most recent subversion was [[Badass Biker]] <ref>Motorcycles have manual transmissions as well</ref> 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.
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'''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
** 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''.
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** 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
* [[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.
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** 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. {{spoiler|He did: although he got soaked, he didn't collide with anything.}}
* [[Everything's Better
* [[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.
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* [[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 s{{color|purple|'''c'''}}h{{color|purple|'''ool'''}} 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 [[Confusing Multiple Negatives|not not]] driving!"
* [[Medal of Dishonor]]: The title "Canada's Worst Driver" and the crappy trophy the "winner" gets at the end.
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** 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, [[Took a Level
* [["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:
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* [[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)
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** 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]]: ''[[
* [[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:
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* [[Tear Jerker]]--[[In
** The death of Crystal's brother-in-law Tom Stagno--[[Irony|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 ''[[Wham! Episode|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
** 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
** 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]]: [[That Poor Car|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
* [[Wiper Start]]:
** Michael, when trying to start his car to drive to the rehab center in Season 2, popped the hood instead.
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* [[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 Driver|backseat-driving passenger]] shouting advice, this happens just about every season.
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