8 Mindsets to Stop Road Rage in its Tracks

According to TD, up to a third of driving fatalities in Canada happen as a result of aggressive driving, ranging from speeding to tailgating to disobeying traffic signs to failing to yield the right-of-way.

For the record, the top 5 types of aggressive driving in Canada, according to Meloche Monnex Insurance, are:

1. Tailgating (or flashing high-beams)
2. Passing on the shoulder (this one surprised us the most)

7 Lifesaving Techniques You Learn In Defensive Driving Courses

On winter’s chilly, perilous roads, it’s important to have more than just the basics of safe driving. Advanced or defensive driving techniques – rather than simply reactionary driving – empower you to avoid danger by anticipating it.

Taking an accredited defensive driving course can help keep you safe, in spite of others’ unpreparedness. In some cases, doing so can also decrease your insurance premiums (in Alberta, taking such a course can even eliminate demerit points off your licence…no such luck yet in Ontario though.)

Things To Do Before You Head to Walt Disney World

With so many things to see and do, a trip to Walt Disney World is a dream vacation for many Canadian families. Visit one of our CAA Travel Stores and have an expert help you plan out every detail of your trip from flights, accommodation, dining and park planning. We have exclusive offers on Disney packages, hotels, park passes, and more.

Tangent Triptik: Best Roadside Spots Between Ottawa and Thunder Bay

Heading to Ottawa from Thunder Bay, vice-versa, or anywhere in-between? Print or save our handy boredom-bashing guide below, and get ready to truly enjoy the longest trip in Upper Canada:

Assuming you’re starting on the south end of this route (if not, just reverse the following), take Highway 417 to 17 to 60 out of Ottawa, continue on 60 through Algonquin Park until it connects with Parry Sound at Highway 400. Continue north from Parry Sound on 69 and take 17 at Sudbury along the shores of Lake Superior.

This route adds about 1 hr, 45 minutes to the standard 20-21-hour trek between our nation’s Capital and the Sleeping Giant, but the bounty of roadside stop offs is well worth the extra hour-per-day (assuming you don’t plan to tackle this mammoth passage in one 24-hour-go.)

Evolution of the Pet-Friendly Vacation

Pet-friendly hotel rooms have existed in some form just about as long as hotels themselves have been around.

But a recent promotional image for the Radisson at Toronto’s Pearson Airport recently took the acceptance of four-legged friends up a notch as far as we’re concerned:

Said promo displayed a virtual tour image of one of their suites with a fluffy white bichon frisse lying comfortably on a lavishly-made king-size bed – A move unheard of in such promotional material even five years ago.

And that ad isn’t alone…

Top Family Cruises in 3 Categories

As recently as the mid-1990s, cruise lines generally felt that dedicated youth and teen spaces weren’t crucial for new cruise ships. Today, they are prerequisites on all large vessels and many mid-sized cruise ships.

As a result, cruising with your kids can be one of the most memorable vacations of your life.

Here’s our look at how to pick the right cruise, the right ship, and the right combination of together and alone-time:

For cruisers with kids, choosing the right ship is actually more important than your choice of destination. With the exception of all Disney ships and some of Royal Caribbean’s older vessels, the rule of thumb is the newer, the better, when it comes to selecting ships with child-friendly amenities.

15 Ultimate Parking Jobs

If you think you’ve seen some of the worst driving in your neighbourhood, or even online, you haven’t seen anything yet…

Sit back and enjoy (or gasp in shock at) our picks for the worst of the worst of the worst in four eye-popping categories.

Buckle up!

Ultimate parking moxy

When you’re REALLY in a hurry…

As with all the other parking jobs in the videos in this post, DO NOT ATTEMPT!!! Unlike all the other clips in this post, the parking jobs in this first compilation reel are done by drivers who – legal-or-not – seem to have mastered driving…and then some…(Note: yes, the last one is totally fake…the rest are most certainly not.)

Local’s Guide For Things To Do With Last-Minute Guests Around Ottawa

So you’ve got guests coming, and pulling out the cot for the spare room is the least of your troubles:

You’re late cleaning, worrying if they’ll be early, and have maybe a few minutes to plan an interesting itinerary.

So how to prove that you haven’t been asleep at the wheel when it comes to knowing the great tourist haunts in your town?

We’ve got you covered: Just pick one or two options from each of the categories below and you’re on your way. Got a little more time? Pick, choose, cut and paste some of the delights below into an e-mail for your incoming family and/or friends to impress even the most discriminating out-of-towners. (You can thank us once the dust clears…)

Cheap Cruises: 12 Ways You Can Afford a High-Sea Holiday

Once the almost-exclusive realm of upper-middle-class families and your grandparents, cruises today are within-reach of most gainfully-employed folk.

Finding the best deal possible (especially for young adults on a budget) is easier than ever, thanks to emerging technology that has increased the quality of cruise ships and increased the likelihood you can find a trip on one for comparatively little money.

Here’re our top dozen suggestions, sorted by category:

Tips For Avoiding Wildlife Collisions

According to a 2006 Globe and Mail article, you are 4-5 times more likely to die in a car crash than by homicide. While many types of car crashes can easily be avoided (don’t speed, stay off the Berry, don’t drink and drive, etc..) run-ins with wildlife are a little trickier to steer clear of.

What are the risks?
Though the odds of actually dying from hitting a large animal on the road among those who get in an accident are around 0.05% in Ontario, your odds of being in any sort of accident with a large animal average around 1% or about 14,000 such accidents reported per year.

The exact figure for residents of the municipality of Ottawa-Carleton, for example, is 1.14% per person and 2.1% per vehicle.