New A&E Series Mines Reckless NYC Driving for Ratings

From the network that brought you “Parking Wars,” the reality TV show about Philadelphia parking scofflaws and the agents who put up with their abuse, comes “Last Chance Driving School,” the reality TV show about student drivers running amok on the streets of Western Queens.

Premiering this weekend, the A&E series promises to show viewers the arc of the students’ skills as they transition from “flustered pupils into safe and sensible drivers.” But when you get down to it, the producers seem to be betting that “Last Chance Driving School” will have the same kind of appeal as American Idol auditions: The audience will get to see people humiliate themselves.

So in place of the Kelly Clarkson wannabes warbling off-key, the viewing public will watch incompetent motorists cause chaos on NYC’s pedestrian-rich streets in their bid for a lifetime of driving privileges. (Sample episode summary: “Fiesty Brazilian firecracker Carla gets Pete worked up with her road rage in Manhattan and Carlos takes to the streets with Sabina, one of the craziest and most dangerous drivers the school has ever seen!”)

A casting call sent out to an Astoria message board last fall went like so:

If you or someone you know live in New York and desperately need help passing your DRIVER’S TEST we can help!

We are looking for people with little to no driving experience. If you have never been behind the wheel of a car or terrified of driving, we are looking for you!

This is your chance to take lessons from a group of trained instructors who can prepare you for that dreaded test!

If you or someone you know has a fun and colorful personality, but has a hard time behind the wheel…this might be an exciting opportunity for you!

What could go wrong?

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

There’s No Such Thing as “Free Parking”

By Aaron Naparstek |
Free parking, it turns out, isn’t free. A new study by transportation guru Bruce Schaller finds that free parking in Manhattan’s Central Business district is responsible for a significant amount of New York City’s staggering traffic congestion. Schaller’s new study, Congested Streets: The Skewed Economic Incentives to Drive Into Manhattan (PDF), finds that free parking […]

Study: City Residential Parking Requirements Lead to More Driving

By John Kaehny |
The New York City Department of City Planning is encouraging people to drive to work. Maybe not officially, but the agency’s minimum residential parking requirements are a big inducement to car commute. That’s the implicit finding of a new study by University of Pennsylvania planning professor Rachel Weinberger (and others, including yours truly, John Kaehny), […]

Use Your Phone to Find Parking! Just, Um, Not While Driving.

By Brad Aaron |
Try as they might, City Council members haven’t cornered the market on ridiculous, counterproductive on-street parking "solutions." Now making its way to your neighborhood: "Parking Around Me," a new service that facilitates parking alerts between drivers via text message. The latest beckoning driver distraction, from Roadify. From what I can tell, here’s how it works: […]