Canada's Worst Driver 7 Explained
Canada's Worst Driver 7 is the seventh season of the Canadian reality TV show Canada's Worst Driver, which aired on the Discovery Channel. As with previous years, eight people, nominated by their family or friends, enter the Driver Rehabilitation Centre to improve their driving skills. This season makes a particular emphasis on the uniquely Canadian nature of driving, rather than having any driving-related motifs as in past years. This year, the Driver Rehabilitation Centre is located at the Dunnville Airport in Dunnville, Ontario for the second straight season. The initial drive started in St. Catharines, Ontario and the final road test occurred in Hamilton, Ontario. This season is the first to be broadcast in high definition, owing to the launch of the high-definition simulcast of Discovery Channel. As part of the promotion for this season, a special Monday edition of The Alan Nursall Experience, a segment on Daily Planet (which normally airs on Tuesdays and Thursdays), takes a behind-the-scenes look at the Driver Rehabilitation Centre.
The Discovery Channel reported that it had received roughly 900 driver nominations for the show's seventh season.[1] One of the drivers nominated was a driver who had difficulty with directions, whose family believed he relied too heavily on his phone's GPS system.
Experts
Three experts return from Canada's Worst Driver 6, though Dr. Lauren Kennedy-Smith, psychologist from the past season, is not among them.
- Cam Woolley is the show's longest-serving expert, having 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 the traffic expert on CP24 in Toronto and had a 25-year career as a traffic sergeant with the Ontario Provincial Police.
- Philippe Létourneau is a veteran high-speed driving instructor who counts BMW and Ferrari among his clients. Since joining the show in the third season, the average car has gained considerably in speed and acceleration, with the high-speed emphasis of this season making his job a particularly important one.
- Shyamala Kiru is an expert on interpersonal relationships and how they can cause emotional breakdowns in drivers. Her experiences have brought her to every corner of the globe.
- Peter Mellor is the show's head driving instructor, a position he has held since joining the show in the fifth season. With Peter returning for his third season, that ties him with Scott Marshall (the head instructor from the first three seasons of Canada's Worst Driver) as the longest-serving head instructor so far.
Contestants
- Lauri Bencharski, 37, from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, is an animal lover, but for her fiancé and nominator, Shaun, her love of animals goes a bit too far: she regularly drives with her two dogs, a cat and a bird, all of which he believes is too much of a distraction. She drives a white Dodge Ram and a silver Chrysler Intrepid and drove a grey Ford Five Hundred to the rehab centre.
- Aaron Cheshire, 30 and licensed for ten years, from Calgary, Alberta, is a former parking lot attendant who was once a victim of an accident caused by a distracted driver in June 2005 that left him in a two-month-long coma. Though he has recovered, he was never the same since in terms of his skills on the road. His father and nominator, Lee, hopes that the Driver Rehabilitation Centre will be the last step towards total recovery. He drives a silver Smart Fortwo and drove a beige Mitsubishi Pajero to the rehab centre.
- Sly Grosjean, 40 and licensed for 17 years, from Lethbridge, Alberta (moved to Red Deer, Alberta; now lives in Nanaimo, British Columbia on Vancouver Island), is a technophile who never goes anywhere without his cell phone GPS; it is a necessity for his job as a deliveryman. However, his brother-in-law and nominator, Fred Hillyer, believes that he is too reliant on new technologies and can't otherwise drive without them. He suffers from non-verbal learning disorder, which impedes his ability to learn. He drives a green Pontiac Grand Am and drove a blue Chevrolet Optra to the rehab centre.
- Afiya Lassy, 25, from Montreal, Quebec, is a road rager out to prove her loved ones, including her friend and nominator, Cindy, wrong—those around her believe that she is a hazard on the road by running red lights and hogging the road; she begs to differ. She drives a red Kia Rio and drove a beige Nissan Altima to the rehab centre.
- Tabitha "Tab" Parks, 39, from Calgary, Alberta, is a former school bus driver who is a nervous wreck when she is uncomfortable behind the wheel. Her boyfriend, Matt, hopes that the Driver Rehabilitation Centre can help her conquer her fears. She drives a black Acura EL and drove a blue Ford Focus to the rehab centre.
- Jonathan "Jon" Parsons, 24 and licensed for eight years, from Bowmanville, Ontario (near Oshawa), has a cocky attitude due to the adrenaline rush brought forth from driving. His girlfriend and nominator, Elise, believes that this can possibly come back to haunt him as they begin the next phase in their ongoing relationship—starting a family. He drives a red Chevrolet Corvette.
- Benjamin "Ben" Reiman, 36, from Surrey, British Columbia (near Vancouver) believes that driving is becoming a major point of contention to their relationship—so much so that he and his wife and nominator, Jan, never drive together anymore. He drives a grey Hyundai Accent and drove a grey Ford Focus to the rehab centre.
- Shirley Sampson, 60 and licensed for 45 years, from Port Caledonia, Nova Scotia (on Cape Breton; now lives in Donkin, Nova Scotia), is a retired elementary school teacher who is comfortable driving around the small towns of rural Nova Scotia; she just merely detests driving into Halifax where her daughter and nominator, Janis Wall, lives. She breaks down entirely on the highway, even going so far as to stop on the highway in place when she is confused. She drives a grey Kia Rio5 and drove a red Ford Focus to the rehab centre.
Synopsis
| Contestant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
|---|
| Shirley Sampson | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | CWD |
| Sly Grosjean | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | RUNNER-UP |
| Aaron Cheshire | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT |
| Afiya Lassy | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | |
| Tab Parks | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | |
| Ben Reiman | IN | IN | IN | OUT | |
| Lauri Bencharski | IN | IN | OUT | |
| Jon Parsons | 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.
External links
Notes and References
- News: Sims . Alisha . 23 November 2011 . Show paves the way for better driving . 2024-06-10 . Sun Times . Lethbridge, Alberta . ProQuest.
