The Rail Bridge – The annual "know where your wheels are" challenge has contestants cross a rail bridge in a Toyota RAV4. To encourage crossing in reverse, the course is initially set up with the rear wheels on the rails; Andrew demonstrates the challenge in reverse. Drivers only fail if they get the car stuck and unable to move. Sly falls off going in reverse, and making another attempt forward causes him to get stuck. Jon goes across driving forward, distrusting his reversing skills. Ben does not look behind him as he reverses, though he manages to reverse across the bridge and into the finish sign. Lauri and Shirley both choose to drive forward and pass. Tab is too nervous to try, though with Andrew's help she manages to drive her way across forward. Aaron tries his luck in reverse, but in trying to adjust his wheels to stay on the rails, he gets stuck and fails. Afiya (who has complained that Driver Rehab is pointless since arriving) gets out of her seat in trying to reverse, and though she manages to cross without falling in or getting stuck, it's questionable whether she passed or not.
Challenger Challenge: The Eye of the Needle – The first lesson from Philippe this year is on target fixation, which is tested in the annual challenge in the featured car. The five archways, which are not arranged in a line as in previous years, must be traversed at 60 km/h. Shirley gears up to 80 km/h, and hits the driver's side in the second arch and the passenger side in the third and fifth arch. Ben crashes into the first arch before accelerating to 90 km/h and colliding with the other arches, and fails. Aaron slowly accelerates to 100 km/h after clearing the first arch, but he crashes into three of the next four arches. Jon clears the arches easily. Tab accelerates to 110 km/h, so fast that she collides into four of the arches, having missed the third arch due to her speed making her unable to turn in time. Lauri, with her stuffed animals, clips only the fourth arch in her run, but her run is considered a pass. Sly hits all of the arches on the passenger side, in part due to a possible tunnel vision issue. Afiya speeds to 110 km/h, and was unaware that she clipped her mirrors in her run.
The Group Reverse Figure Eight – The contestants must reverse a Ford F-Series short bus (which can be driven by ordinary drivers as long as it has fewer than 8 seats) around a figure-eight course. For this challenge, all of the contestants will be in the same car together as each contestants make their run. Jon volunteers to go first, but around the ends of the course he goes too fast and hits 7 things. Ben, licensed to drive full-sized buses in his job transporting autistic adults, is still on the first turn after eight minutes, and hits 29 things overall. Tab is also licensed to drive full-sized buses (having quit driving school buses due to stress), but hits 20 things in her run. Afiya, ignoring her mirrors as well as the collective opinions of the other contestants, hits 59 obstacles in her run. Shirley, after an early mishap, proceeds to do most of the rest of the course flawlessly, with only 13 hits in her run. Aaron goes through the course very slowly, even stopping when he is flustered by the crosstalk; but he finishes with a standing ovation from contestants and nominators alike, with only two hits in his run. Sly spends 4 minutes adjusting his mirrors, although he does not know where to aim them, and even after that he relies on Jon to do the looking for him. Lauri normally cannot see out of her passenger-side mirror due to her larger dog, but with only her driver-side mirror (her passenger-side mirror being similarly encumbered by the large stuffed animal) she manages to go through the entire course without hitting anything... until she opens the bus door.
In deliberation, Ben admits he will not be the first to graduate, while Shirley and Tab both admit to needing more improvement. Philippe believes that the root of Tab's problems is that she is looking not far enough ahead. Afiya admits to wanting to go home, with learning as an afterthought. Lauri believes that she should be first to graduate, but she also wants to stay longer to learn more. She breaks down when they discuss how in keeping her pets in the car may injure them without proper safety precautions, from which Cam suggests that she disable the passenger-side airbag and get specialized safety gear if she wants to continue riding with her pets. Jon wants to graduate, after a long talk with Aaron's life story earlier in the day in the confessional. Aaron, in return, is grateful for the news. The experts are divided on Jon and Lauri on being the first graduate; Cam and Philippe wants Jon to graduate based on his dealings with Aaron, while Andrew and Shyamala both want Lauri to go home because Lauri did better in all the challenges. In the end, the experts agree to honour Lauri's request to stick around, and Jon becomes the first graduate.
The Alan Nursall Experience: Alan Nursall goes into the car maintenance garage at the Driver Rehabilitation Centre to assist mechanic Bill Hoffie in making quick fixes to the cars so that they will be ready for the next challenge. Among the repairs he assists is the replacement of side mirrors and the RAV4's shocks that were damaged from the Trough.
