Canada's Worst Driver 4

Experts

• Cam Woolley is a legal expert who has been present in every season except the first and has seen the habits of Canadian drivers change drastically since 2000, with the most common offense having changed from DUI to distracted driving. He is a retired traffic sergeant who had a 25-year career with the Ontario Provincial Police and now serves as the traffic expert on CP24 in Toronto.
• Philippe Létourneau is a high-performance driving instructor with the Jim Russell Racing School, having been also featured on Discovery's Star Racer series. He is also a lead driving instructor for BMW Driver Training and the "Ferrari Driving Experience" at the Mont Tremblant race track. Philippe has enjoyed a successful career with over 40 podium finishes in 120 race starts.
• Dr. Louisa Gembora is a psychologist who worked at the Hamilton Psychiatric Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario before moving on to private practice in 1994. She drives a race car in her spare time.
• Dan Bagyan is the new head instructor this season who is with Signature Driving School.

  Contestants

• Teagan Cramer, 18, from Edmonton, Alberta, despite being an excellent skateboarder, is a young and nervous driver who tries to compensate by jerking the steering wheel back and forth. However, his dangerous driving is causing him trouble in meeting people of the opposite sex. The youngest nominee in the history of the series, he is nominated by his buddy, Mat Smith. He drives a black Ford Ranger and, because he is too young to have a rental car insured, drove Andrew's 1998 Mazda B4000 to the rehab centre, forcing Andrew to head to rehab in a different vehicle, as his truck doesn't have enough room for Teagan, Mat, Andrew and a camera crew all at the same time.
• Curt Higham, 51, from New Westminster, British Columbia, has been in 46 accidents through his driving career. Part of this may be because he is so distracted, often he does not watch the road. He was originally nominated by his husband of 31 years, Vance McFadyen, for Canada's Worst Driver 3, but it was only this year that he was accepted at rehab. In fact, Vance had refused to allow Curt to drive for over three years due to his driving record. He drives a green Ford F-150 and drove a black Ford Windstar to the rehab centre.
• Donna Hicks, 61, from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, is a fearless driver—so much so she refuses to stop at stop signs or red lights; yet simple driving tasks, such as reversing, seem to elude her. She even sometimes drinks and drives, which she claims happens "only when I play bingo"; i.e. when she drives home from the bingo hall. She is nominated by her son, Claude Vienneau, who is worried for his safety, her safety and the safety of her grandchildren. She drives a blue Dodge Spirit and drove a beige Mazda Protege to the rehab centre.
• Lindsay Kloss, 23, from Kelowna, British Columbia, is an accident-prone and extremely distracted driver, claiming to hit something every few weeks and knowing all of Kelowna's tow truck drivers on a personal basis. On one occasion, she managed to hit the gas meter of her fiancé's home. Her driving was so bad that three people nominated her, though her fiancé, TJ Papp, will be the only one accompanying her through rehab. She drives a white Ford Taurus and drove a gray Ford Taurus to the rehab centre.
• Ashley van Ham, 21 and licensed for seven years, from Medicine Hat, Alberta, is a road raging and easily distracted driver, having cost her husband, Bryan van Ham, over $15,000 in vehicle repairs. Ashley enters rehab in order to protect their infant son, Diesel and is especially motivated to graduate early in order to not miss his first birthday. She drives a black Ford F-350 and a Mitsubishi Endeavor and drove a beige Mitsubishi Lancer to the rehab centre.
• Emily Wang, 33, from Calgary, Alberta, is an inexperienced and distracted driver and immigrant from China struggling with something as simple as moving a car forward. This may be because her driving skills were a result of having only 10 hours of training in obtaining her license and English is not her first language. She is nominated by her fiancé, Scott Nicholson. She drives a green Chevrolet Cavalier and drove a black Chevrolet Cavalier to the rehab centre.
• Kenneth "Ken" Westwood, 59, from Mission, British Columbia, is a traveling salesman who has a habit of tailgating and speeding, and is unapologetic about his ruthless behaviour on the road. He is nominated by his buddy, John Levitt, who is worried that his antics may cost him his license and way of living. He drives a silver Kia Rio and drove a red Ford Focus to the rehab centre.
• Amy-Lee "Amy" Wisniewski, 30, from Bethune, Saskatchewan, is a nervous wreck behind the wheel, stemming from a lack of confidence in driving. Because of this, she refuses to drive the to Regina, even though her business depends on a weekly commute there. She is nominated by her husband, Bob Wisniewski, a truck driver. She drives a white Pontiac Sunbird and drove a blue Ford Focus to the rehab centre.

  Synopsis

Episode 1: Guilty as Charged

• Starting on Top: This season, the journey to the Driver Rehabilitation Centre starts from the Duke-Ontario Parking Garage in Kitchener, Ontario, with the eight drivers heading to rehab using a provided set of instructions, a journey that Andrew notes is an hour-long, drive. The contestants depart in the following order: Amy-Lee, Donna and Emily, Curt, Lindsay, Teagan, Ken and Ashley. Everyone makes a large number of moving violations on the way to rehab and the contestants arrive in the following order: Donna, Curt, Lindsay, Ken, Amy-Lee, Teagan, Emily and Ashley.
• *First to Arrive: Donna was the second to leave, but the first to arrive.
• *Last to Arrive: Ashley was the last.
• Porsche Challenge: Basic Assessment: In the traditional skills evaluation, the contestants must reverse a Porsche 928 out of a tight corner and then in a straight line, before going through a slalom portion at 40 km/h with both hands on the wheel at all times. After exiting that portion, they must accelerate the Porsche to 60 km/h, before stopping in front of a wall of boxes. Ken, going second, is the first contestant to scratch the car, while Emily cannot even reverse out of the corner, getting her car stuck and Donna gets a rim stuck under the car. Lindsay is the only contestant to not hit the barriers, while Curt destroys most of the rim section. Teagan needs two attempts just to get up to speed in the slalom, which he does on the second try, only to hit three on the first try and not hit any obstacles in the reversing portion. However, none of the contestants could avoid hitting the wall of boxes.
• *Best Performer: Ashley and Lindsay were the only two to not hit the barriers, with Ashley doing slightly better.
• *Worst Performer: Although Curt destroyed most of the rim section, Teagan was the worst, due to his constant jerking of the steering wheel.

Episode 2: Big Manoeuvres

• Prison Laundry: The contestants must reverse a laundry trunk through a simple obstacle course, up a ramp and into a garage. To do so successfully, however, each contestant must use their mirrors and repeatedly do the "S-bend", as each nominator will tell their nominee. Amy learns the hard way, hitting obstacles left and right and not using her mirrors, while Ken, who does not finish in his hour, is so frustrated at the end of his run that he is contemplating quitting driving. Neither Ashley or Lindsay finish in their hour. Donna and Teagan hit the building in front of them with the front bumper. Curt has the best run of the day, encountering trouble only in the middle of the course, while keeping his emotions in check. Emily's poor vision in the challenge prompts Andrew to commission an eye exam for every contestant, to be done after the second challenge.
• Parallel Parking: The annual tradition of a parallel parking challenge returns here. Contestants must park a Ford Windstar between two vehicles in front of the patio of the Albion Hotel in downtown Guelph full of onlookers. The contestants will have one minute in each attempt and each failure will cause the driver to take one lap around the block. Lindsay is the only one to pass on her first try, while Curt gets it in two. None of the other contestants finish, but none are as worse as Donna, who even gets out of her car during her first attempt to berate a passing car waiting for her to park, causing five moving violations in one, enough to not only cost her $595 in potential fines had she been caught, but also have her license suspended on the spot.
• *Best Performer: Curt and Lindsay were the only two people who passed this challenge, but Lindsay doing slightly better.
• *Worst Performer: Donna did the worst, going so far as to get out of her car during her first attempt to berate a passing car waiting for her to park.
• Icy Corner: In this challenge, on a car lacking an anti-lock braking system, contestants must corner around a simulated ice patch. Each contestant will have two tries in accelerating their car to 25 km/h before tackling the corner, which they should be able to handle by looking at where they want to go. Curt and Amy both do this on their second try. Lindsay was close on her second, only missing the corner and turning too soon. Teagan failed both runs when his foot got stuck between the pedals. Donna, however, has the worst run of the day, fishtailing wildly out of control when she mistakenly hits the gas on the turn, thinking it was the brakes.

Episode 3: The Urge to Merge

• Shoulder Checks: In a new challenge, the contestants must accelerate their car up to 60 km/h before encountering a sign. After reading the sign by shoulder checking, they must take the correct exit at a fork in the road. Contestants have five attempts, failing if they fail to make the shoulder check, making the wrong exit or hitting any obstacle. Teagan tries to cheat by removing his head restraint, while Lindsay learns to "watch the road" when she passes on her second try. Emily, who is too vision-impaired to drive without glasses, makes it on her final attempt, but it is later discovered that she guessed an exit at random and had guessed right. Donna is too scared to go up to 60 km/h and she even failed a run at 50 km/h. Amy fails all five runs, but discovers that, while making the shoulder check, she drifts her car to the right to overcompensate a natural leftwards drift when she turns her body.
• The Traffic Circle Challenge: In this challenge, the contestants must drive a Jaguar and enter a traffic circle and pass six cars before exiting, without exceeding 30 km/h in any part of the run. Ken finishes in four minutes with John barking orders at him, so when Andrew goes into the passenger seat, Ken finishes with a perfect run in three minutes. Teagan finishes without passing the sixth car, failing the challenge, while Amy, frightened by the challenge, cries her way through a perfect run in nine minutes. Ashley screams through her run, but manages to learn how to use her mirrors. Emily also passes with ease, while Donna has her left blinker on despite being in the inner lane. Lindsay also fails the challenge, as she does not do a full check in four of her lane changes.
• Road Signs: Dan tests the drivers on their road sign knowledge. Dan tests the drivers on their knowledge of road signs. Of the 15 questions asked, Amy got 7/15, while Donna posted the lowest score, with 3/15.
• Public Lane Change: The contestants are put out onto public roads, where they must make 15 safe lane changes, as determined by her nominators. Lindsay is first to finish, while Ashley finds herself having driven with the parking brake down for half an hour and needs to get her car towed away. Emily and Amy are driven to the edge, but eventually finish. Donna runs into her old habits of running past stop signs, while Ken does not run into his old habits, even admitting to Andrew that the "old Ken" would have cut off others on a number of occasions.

Episode 4: Shifty Manoeuvres

• The Teeter-Totter: In this challenge, the contestants must balance their car on top of a teeter-totter. Ashley, who was self-taught in manual transmission at home, finishes the challenge quickly, though complaining the entire time that the car-- in this case, a Honda Accord-- is garbage, to the point Bryan asks for earplugs after the challenge to drown out Ashley's complaining. Emily and Donna also finish, but both admits that they may have lucked out. Teagan and Amy are also given different cars-- Teagan and Amy. Teagan finishes, though he burns the clutch the entire time, while Amy is the only one not to finish, having stalled 26 times just trying to get over a speed bump in third gear alone, manages to kill her car.
• The Water-Tank Challenge: In the annual tradition, contestants must navigate through an obstacle course while having a roof-mounted pool of water on their car. Notably, after three straight seasons where he stayed virtually dry, Andrew also gets soaked, earning the ridicule of the show's crew. However, despite getting soaked and earning the ridicule of the crew, Andrew still fares better than the contestants-- Scott is so soaked from Emily's bad driving that he leaves the challenge without his shirt, while Lindsay is forced to repeat a portion. Ashley also screams throughout her ride. However, the most serious news comes from Donna: having failed a straightaway portion, she repeats it, only to suffer an angina attack at the end of the straightaway when a fake taxi appears out of nowhere. For her, the challenge is aborted then and Dan and Cam are compelled through their positions as a certified driving instructor and a police officer, respectively, to call for reviews of her license based upon her medical condition.
• Straight to 60: In this challenge, contestants must drive straight up to 60 km/h in standard transmission, with Andrew in the passenger's seat. Though five challenges finish quickly, Andrew is nervous throughout, due to Donna's heart condition and her upcoming turn in the challenge to the point of Andrew refusing to let Donna take the challenge. Andrew convinces Donna not to do the challenge, as her heart condition continues to be examined.

Episode 5: A Turn For the Worst

• Driving Distracted: Each of the remaining drivers must drive clockwise in a circle while having to perform several tasks while maintaining speed. For Ashley, Bryan himself may be a distraction, as she nearly breaks down. Lindsay realizes that text messaging while driving is a particular problem, as it could be outlawed in her jurisdiction. Mat also gets a laugh at Teagan's expense when a collision with a barricade results in Teagan spilling Gatorade all over himself. Dan mentions that accident odds increase 100% per teenage passenger. Emily's problems are compounded by her poor vision. Amy, who uses cigarettes to calm herself on the road, learns that even lighting up could be dangerous. This challenge is undertaken as an education measure and is not considered part of the "competition" aspect, so there are no winners or losers. All of the drivers eventually hit the barricades on the course.
• The Snake: The episode's showcase challenge has the drivers move through a tight obstacle course through various slopes. Ashley, scheduled to go first, is delayed because she did not bring flats, making Lindsay go first. Lindsay finishes faster than Andrew, but hits nine things. Emily falls off the track many times. Teagan, who navigated the course on his skateboard with ease, slowly pulses his way through the course. He admits that a few more similar courses could improve his skills. Amy manages to remain calm after falling off the track on the first two turns and manages to finish the rest of the course without hitting anything. When Ashley returns, she finishes the course in 90 seconds with minimal error, the fastest out of any of the contestants, perplexing the experts, so Andrew challenges Ashley to do the course in reverse. Ashley promptly breaks down, arguing with Bryan, taking more than 15 minutes to round the first turn. However, Bryan manages to calm her down after that ordeal at the end when she gives up going in reverse.
• Swerve and Avoid: In this episode's lesson, Philippe teaches the contestants to swerve, emphasizing to never brake while swerving. The contestants have three attempts to accelerate to 35 km/h and swerve in the direction opposite where a fake taxi appears, either to the left or the right. Amy, going first, fails her three runs. Emily also fails her three runs, partly due to her poor vision and partly due to poor cornering. Ashley, motivated by her son's first birthday at the end of the week, also fails her three runs, driving into the fake cab every time. She is also there to watch Lindsay fail her three runs. Teagan also fails his three runs from oversteering.

Episode 6: It's All Reverse

• Reverse Flick: Phillippe normally teaches the reverse flick to prospective Quebec police officers. Today, inspired by Ed Porter, the contestants learn the same maneuvers and then, for their challenge, repeat them inside a confined space. Teagan and Amy fail their 10 attempts due to oversteering and underspeeding, respectively. On the other hand, Lindsay makes it on her first try, Ashley on her second and Emily on her third.
• Canada's Worst Parking Lot: The annual non-race to park a car in an open parking space has all five contestants driving five different luxury vehicles, with the additional requirement of having to reverse into their parking spaces. Amy is first to park, followed by Ashley, Lindsay and Emily. Teagan is left without a space.
• The Cross: This challenge returns from the previous season, where drivers must reverse their car through all four points of the cross. Amy, who is performing the challenge on her wedding anniversary, scratches the car only once in her 19-minute run. Bryan is conspicuously quiet during Ashley's run, while Teagan struggles through his second half.
• The Figure-Eight Challenge: In the new twist on an annual classic, the drivers must make three laps around a double-wide figure-eight course. Instead of driving with their nominators, however, the five drivers sit in the car together. Neither Lindsay nor Ashley hit anything, though Lindsay was faster through the course. Amy, now more confident, hit only three things. However, both Teagan's oversteering and Emily's poor vision caused them to hit many objects.

Episode 7: Practice Makes Perfect

• Eye of the Needle: The annual tradition returns, where contestants must drive through a series of arches at 50 km/h. Ashley does this on her first try, while it takes Teagan three attempts and Amy four. Emily, due to her poor vision, fails all four runs. Fortunately for her, poor vision should not hinder her further, as her new glasses finally came in.
• Trailer Driving: The lesson this episode is on how to drive with a trailer attached, which will be needed for this obstacle course challenge. The obstacle consists of a short course which includes a hairpin turn and a reverse into a final parking space. Teagan is fired up and finishes without hitting anything. Emily dramatically improves with her new glasses, while Ashley, encouraged by Dr. Gembora to have a more conciliatory attitude with Bryan, manages to do the course well up to the final parking. Amy, however, only manages when she tunes out Bob.
• Donuts: The final challenge this episode has drivers making a wide donut around a fixed obstacle in a 1988 Ford Mustang. Teagan manages to make it after much perseverance, while Ashley and Amy also manage to finish. Emily fails all 50 attempts.

Episode 8: The Verdict

• Straight Line with a Twist: The season finale kicks off with the Straight Line Challenge from the previous season, but with a twist in the middle. Contestants must accelerate a 1966 Ford Fairlane to 40 km/h between two concrete barriers with only clearance on either side. Ashley manages to calm down enough to finish after 21:23 thanks to the mantra "look where you want to go." Emily takes 41 attempts and subsequently fails to make a real effort and never comes close to passing the challenge until her second-to-last attempt, not to mention she drove so erratically in her first run, she ended up killing the engine, leading Andrew to state that, if this challenge alone decided the title of Canada's Worst Driver, Emily would be awarded the trophy, while it only takes Amy 9:10 to finish.
• *Best Performer: Amy and Ashley were the only two people who passed this challenge, but Amy doing clearly better thanks to strategically going slow in her practice run.
• *Worst Performer: Emily did the worst, killing the engine on her first attempt.
• The Mega-Challenge: The annual Mega-Challenge consists of three legs-- a combined Eye of the Needle and slalom portion, an Icy Corner and a Snake and a final obstacle course in reverse and the Teeter-Totter. All three manage to get trouble in the first leg, though Amy manages to recover somewhat in later legs. Ashley and Emily, however, had to have the course altered, with Ashley, forced to finish the Mega Challenge in the Porsche due to the Mustang's engine going dead, admitting after her frustrations boiled over that she may be Canada's Worst Driver, as it takes her an 109 minutes to finish, while it takes Emily 64 minutes.
• Road Test: Drivers must navigate a course involving 25 turns through Toronto during Friday rush hour traffic, this time using Andrew's truck, a 1998 Mazda B4000, which was used for the previous season's Road Test, with the beginning and ending at Outer Harbour Marina Toronto. Emily's run is overly cautious, causing nine moving violations, all but one of which for blocking traffic at the intersections of Lake Shore Boulevard West and Rees Street, Rees Street and Bremner Boulevard, Bremner Boulevard at the Rogers Centre parking lot entrance, King Street West and Simcoe Street, King Street West and University Avenue, Shuter Street and Mutual Street, Front Street West and John Street and Parliament Street and Front Street East that would not only total $990 in potential fines had she been caught, but of the nine moving violations she committed, five would cause her to lose her license based on demerit points alone. Amy, who wants to address driving with Bob as a passenger, only makes six moving violations that would total $660 in potential fines had she been caught, all while Bob plays the role of tourist sitting in the passenger seat, not to mention stopping while turning onto Queens Quay West from York Street. Ashley's run is far worse: when told by Andrew to stick to the right and stay on Lake Shore Boulevard, she somehow manages to sweep her way onto the Gardiner Expressway. Her run slowly goes downhill after that to the point where, by the time she commits her third moving violation, dangerous driving as she turns onto University Avenue from College Street heading toward Queens Park, she starts believing she's the worst; she ultimately makes eight moving violations that would not only cost her $1,120 in potential fines had she been caught, including parking in a marked disabled spot in front of the Dominion Public Building on Front Street West when the truck's alternator dies in the final moments, forcing Andrew and Bryan to push the truck into the first parking spot available so as not to impede the flow of traffic, resulting in a $350 ticketable offense. As if that's not enough, during Ashley's run, in which a pedestrian sticks up his middle finger at Ashley and Bryan while stopped at a red light at the intersection of Dundas Street West and Spadina Avenue, Andrew meets two tourists from Belgium who are fans of the show's Belgian counterpart, Y'a pas pire conducteur.