Canada's Worst Driver 2 Explained
Canada's Worst Driver 2 is the second season of the Canadian reality TV show Canada's Worst Driver, which aired on the Discovery Channel. As with the past season, eight people, nominated by their family or friends, enter the Driver Rehabilitation Centre to improve their driving skills. In season 2, Driver Rehabilitation Centre is located at CFB Borden. Unlike the previous season, when the focus was on Winter Driving, the focus of this season was on Summer Driving. The initial drive started in Wasaga Beach, Ontario and the final road test occurred in Toronto, Ontario. The Driver Rehabilitation Program was one week shorter, due to two candidates graduating in the penultimate episode of this season.
The candidates in season 2 included a 43-year-old video game race car champion who had trouble curbing his speed on the open road; a 22-year-old student with $10,000 in unpaid tickets for speeding and parking; and a police school student who had been pulled over 40 times in 3 years.[1]
Experts
Only one expert returns from Canada's Worst Driver:
- Markus 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 performance driving instructor and has an illustrious career in auto racing, including a first-place finish in the Formula 2000 series.
- Cam Woolley is a sergeant with 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.
- Scott Marshall is in his second season as the show's head driving instructor.
Contestants
- Karen Carson, 49 and licensed for 28 years, from Port Perry, Ontario, is a grandmother who was once confident as a driver but is now too terrified to drive. When she does drive with her husband and nominator, Allan Carson, a police officer, 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 drives a black Subaru Forester.
- Matthew "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 was nominated by his friend, Suzanne, a fashion executive. He drives a green Cadillac STS Seville.
- Henrietta Gallant, 61 and licensed for 35 years, from Rockland, Ontario (near Ottawa) (now lives in Summerside, Prince Edward Island), suffers from extreme stress while at the wheel, leading to many accidents. During the series, it is discovered that, due to having 20/100 vision like Heather Reynolds from the previous season, meaning she could only see 20% as well as other people, most of her troubles were caused by not having a proper prescription for her glasses. She was nominated by her husband, Andy Gallant, a civil servant. She drives a red Chevrolet Impala.
- 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 if it's the start of a race. He was nominated by his niece, Melena. He drives a red Chevrolet Cavalier Z24.
- Colin Sheppard, 20 and licensed for three years, from Whitby, Ontario, is a Police Foundations graduate. Similar to Sean, he often drives above the speed limit and has gained over 30 tickets, but often uses his license as a Police Foundations graduate to get himself out of trouble. Despite this, he claims that cops "aren't the smartest people out there" and often gets involved in street racing. He was nominated by his friend, Jeremy McCaig, an independent distributor. He drives a black manual transmission Honda Civic.
- Jodi Slobodesky, 31 and licensed for 15 years, from Steinbach, Manitoba (near Winnipeg), 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 was nominated by her husband, Sam Slobodesky, an auto body technician. She drives a red GMC Safari and drove a grey Pontiac G6 to the rehab centre.
- Michael Telford, 40 and licensed for 24 years, from West Vancouver, British Columbia (now resides on Vancouver Island), is a landlord who took nine attempts to get his driver's license in 1982 and cannot deal with surprises while driving. He also has a tendency to hold his breath when entering a tunnel and continues to hold it until he exits. He was nominated by his best friend, Eric Kozak. He drives a blue Mercedes C230 and drove a silver Ford Fusion to the rehab centre.
- Shannon Willemsen, 22 and licensed for five years, from Calgary, Alberta, is a student and a mother-to-be who enjoys totaling cars. She has 12 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 60 km/h over the speed limit. Her cars last on average 3–6 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, much less keep her license. She was nominated by her best friend, Sara Bailie. She drives a blue GMC Jimmy with a Chevrolet Blazer grill and drove a black Toyota Echo to the rehab centre.
Synopsis
| Contestant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
|---|
| Henrietta Gallant | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | CWD |
| Michael Telford | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | RUNNER-UP |
| Shannon Willemsen | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT |
| Sean McConnell | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | |
| Jodi Slobodesky | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | |
| Colin Sheppard | IN | IN | IN | EXPL | |
| Karen Carson | IN | IN | OUT | |
| Matt Elkind | IN | OUT | | |
(CWD) The contestant became Canada's Worst Driver.
(RUNNER-UP) The contestant was runner-up for Canada's Worst Driver.
(OUT) The contestant graduated.
(IN) The contestant was shortlisted for graduation.
(EXPL) The contestant was expelled.
The 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.
Sean graduated immediately after Jodi on the condition that Melena readmit him to the Driver Rehabilitation Centre should he be caught speeding.
Notes and References
- News: 15 October 2006 . Debut . 2024-06-10 . Edmonton Journal . ProQuest.
