Lessons from Canada's Worst Driver #1

Have you watched any episodes of Canada's Worst Driver? It's a show where a handful of contestants are nominated by a friend or loved one (or perhaps an enemy) to as one of the worst drivers in Canada. Then this group meets at a "Driver Rehab Centre" to learn basic driving skills. At the end of each episode, someone "graduates" and can go home. And at the end of the season, someone is named "Canada's Worst Driver".

It's an entertaining show, although it's also a little scary – viewers quickly realize that the mistakes these drivers make are probably repeated by thousands upon thousands of other drivers every single day. It's enough to make you want to run out and buy a bus pass.

We're writing 5 articles to list 5 lessons we've observed by loyally watching Canada's Worst Driver for several years. In this article, we're talking about one skill we've seen is horribly lacking in Canada's Worst Drivers: Smooth driving.

Good driving should be smooth: You should be able to accelerate and decelerate smoothly. You should be able to turn corners smoothly. Nothing jerky, sudden, or unpredictable.

In the show Canada's Worst Driver, the drivers are taught smooth driving by trying to drive a car carrying a giant tub of water on the roof. When they accelerate or decelerate or turn without doing it smoothly, a good portion of the water will spill over the tub, through the sun-roof, and onto the driver.

Smooth driving is good for a number of reasons:

• It makes you predictable to other drivers, allowing everyone to drive safely around you. (They'll be less likely to crash into you if they can accurately estimate what you are doing!)
• It's easier on your car if you drive smoothly than if you jam on the gas and the brake and careen around corners like you're in an action movie.
• It's safer for you – you give yourself enough time to react (plus you'll have enough control to react) when you operate your car smoothly instead of sporadically.

So, how do you drive smoothly? Here are some tips:

• Start braking sooner than you have been, and slow down slower (that is, don't stand on the brake pedal in order to stop).
• When accelerating, press down consistently on the gas pedal and slowly bring your speed to the legal limit.
• When turning, slow down and keep control of the vehicle as you approach the corner, turn the wheel smoothly (don't jerk the wheel or crank it around quickly) and then cleanly come out of your turn.

According to one of the lessons we learned from the show Canada's Worst Driver, smooth driving is a way to get where you want to go safely.

And if one of Canada's worst drivers collides with you, bring your car to Boyd Autobody for a quick safe repair. We'll get you back out on the roads in no time!