US gas prices could fall below $2 per gallon by Holidays

Gas for your Christmas vacation could get a lot cheaper, especially if you live in the United States.

The American Automobile Association (AAA) reports that gas prices south of the border could drop as low as $2 per gallon in December. 

The last time fuel was this cheap was way back in 2009.

AAA notes that average prices have already dropped 11 cents since October. The cost per barrel of crude continues to remain low as US production rates remain high.

This will likely mean cheaper prices at the pump for Canadian drivers as well. However, cheap crude continues to be a major obstacle for the economy. The low dollar has pushed up costs for other goods, meaning savings at the pumps won't likely give consumers' wallets a break.

Photo by Anthony M. Inswasty via Wikipedia. Used under CC BY-SA 4.0 license. 

Where to catch Santa in the GTA this Holiday Season

The Holiday Season is almost upon us. It's almost time for the big guy himself to make his annual appearance to all the good children. Here's where you can catch all the great parades around the GTA.

Toronto Santa Claus Parade
Sunday, November 15th @ 12:30pm

Parade stars at Bloor & Bathurst, travels down Avenue, and ends at Front and Wellington. If you're wanting to see Santa, public transit will be your best bet. GO Transit will be offering special trains on the Milton, Kitchener, Barrie, and Stouffville lines.

Milton Santa Claus Parade
Sunday, November 15th @ 1:30pm

Georgetown Santa Clause Parade
Saturday, November 21st, @ 5:00pm

Georgetown's night parade begins at sundown. It runs along Hwy. 7 and Sinclair Ave., proceed along Guelph St. to Mill St. along Mill St. to Charles St. to Park St. to Georgetown Fairgrounds.

Acton Santa Claus Parade
Saturday November 21st @ 1:00pm

Brampton Santa Claus Parade
Saturday, November 21st @ 5:00pm

Brampton also hosts a night parade beginning at sundown. It begins at Ken Williams and Sproule, runs along Main St, and ends at Elgin.

Mississauga Santa Claus Parade
Sunday Novermber 29th @ 1:00pm

A Streetsville tradition! The parade starts at Queen/Mississauga Road and Britannia, snakes through the historic downtown, and ends at Old Station Road.

Burlington Santa Claus Parade
Sunday, December 6th @ 2:00pm

The parade starts at Prospect & Guelph Line, continues along Guelph Line to New Street, heads
west along New Street to James Street, north on Brant street, and finishes at Brant Street and Caroline Street.

Oakville Santa Claus Parade
Saturday, November 21st @ 9:00am

The little ones will have to get up early if they want to catch Santa in downtown Oakville. The Parade starts at Chartwell Rd, runs along Cornwall/Speers, and ends at Dorval and Lakeshore.

Hamilton Santa Claus Parade
Saturday, November 21st @ 2:00pm

The Hamilton Santa Claus Parade is celebrating their 40th anniversary of #SantasInTheHammer. The parade starts at Queen and Main, runs along Main to Johm, up John to King, along King to Bay and ends at Copps Colosseum.

Oshawa Santa Claus Parade 
Saturday, November 21st @ 6:00pm

Night parades seem to be getting popular. Oshawa's begins at Gibbson St, runs along king, lopps up Centre, runs along Bong, and back to Gibbson.

Whitby Santa Claus Parade
Saturday, December 5th @ 10:00am

The parade starts at Brock and Manning, runs along Brock St, end ends at Trent.

Pickering Santa Claus Parade
Saturday, November 29th @ 10:00am

Parade starts at Vaughan Willard Public School, travels east along Glenanna, and ends at Pickering Parkway.

Ajax Santa Claus Parade
Saturday, November 28th @ 6:00pm

Another night time festival of lights. No details on the route yet.

Markham Santa Claus Parade
Saturday, November 28th @ 11:00am

The parade starts at Hwy 7 and Main, travels north along main, and ends at the Markham Museum.


Richmond Hill Santa Claus Parade
Sunday, November 22nd @ 1:30pm

The parade runs along Yonge St between Industrial Road and Hopkins.

Vaughan-Maple Santa Fest
Sunday, November 22nd @ 2:00pm

The Parade runs along Major Mackenzie from the 400 to Vaughan City Hall.

Newmarket Santa Claus Parade
Saturday, November 21st @ 11:00am

The parade starts at Lorne and Eagle, proceeds along Main, and ends at Ontario St.

Barrie Santa Claus Parade
Saturday, November 21st, 2015 @ 5:00pm

Still waiting on route details.


If I've missed anybody, shoot me a comment and I'll add it to the list.

Rollover shuts down the 404 at Stouffville Road

A serious collision has closed a section of the 404 Tuesday afternoon.

OPP responded to reports of a rollover in the northbound lanes at approximately 5:00pm.

Early reports suggest that at least three people are without vital signs.

All lanes are currently blocked. Northbound traffic is currently being forced off the highway at Elgin Mills. Traffic is currently backed up to Major Mackenzie. Southbound motorists are facing heavy delays as well.

Drivers are advised to take Woodbine Avenue as an alternate.

ROAD CLOSURE: #Hwy404 NB at Elgin Mills Rd #Gormley - Hwy is CLOSED due to a fatal collision. On-ramp from Stouffville Rd also CLOSED. ^cc

— OPP GTA Traffic (@OPP_GTATraffic) October 27, 2015

Two dead after pileup on the 401 in Ajax

Two people are dead after a horrific crash on the 401 in Ajax Wednesday morning.

Shortly after 6:00am, police responded to reports of an eight vehicle pileup in the eastbound lanes near Westney Road.

One vehicle, an SUV, was found wedged between two tractor trailers, while a pickup truck had slammed into the back of one of the transports.

Firefighters worked to rescue the SUV driver but they were pronounced dead at the scene.

The pickup truck driver was rushed to hospital with life threatening injuries but died a short time later.

All lanes of the highway were closed until approximately 3:00pm while police investigated the cause of the crash. Three right lanes remained closed into the afternoon rush.

2nd man is now dead as a result of collision at Hwy401 EB at Harwood Ave earlier today pic.twitter.com/2oCYv62WI7

— Sgt Kerry Schmidt (@OPP_HSD) September 23, 2015

Source: 680News

Don Valley Parkway to close this weekend for Fall maintenance

If you're heading downtown this weekend, you'll need to find an alternate route if you usually take the Don Valley Parkway.

Crews will be shutting down the DVP from the Gardiner up to the 401 starting at 8:00pm on Saturday, September 26th. It will reopen on Monday, September 28th at 5:00am, just in time for the morning rush.

While the closure is a pain for local drivers, it allows the city to catch up on badly needed repairs ahead of the winter. Crews will be out patching up pot holes, replacing lights, inspecting bridges, and cleaning out catch basins.

If you're looking for an alternate route, Bayview and Don Mills will likely be your best bets, but expect them to be a lot busier than usual.

Photo by Alaney2k via Wikipedia. Used under Creative Commons 2.0 license. 

Volkswagen recalling cars with wonky emissions tests

Volkswagen Group has announced they will be recalling 500,000 diesel cars that used software to falsify emissions test results.

The automaker will also stop selling both new and used 2015 and 2016 models that were equipped with the 4-cylinder "clean diesel" engine.

Speaking to the New York Times, Martin Winterkorn apologized for the company's antics.

“I am personally deeply sorry that we have broken the trust of our customers and the public,” he said in a statement, adding that the company would “fully cooperate” with both federal and independent investigations."

Late last week, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stated the company had violated the Clean Air Act by intentionally installing software to evade pollution regulations.

The vehicles in question will only activate their full emissions control system only if they're plugged into an emissions testing device. During normal driving, the effectiveness of the control system was said to be greatly reduced. The EPA notes that this exposed people to harmful pollutants.

Included in the recall are diesel powered Volkswagen Jetta, Beetle, Golf, and Audi A3 from the 2009 to 2014 model years, as well as the 2014 to 2015 Volkswagen Passat.

The company's gasoline powered vehicles are not affected.

Volkswagen Group could face steep fines of up to $18 billion dollars over this incident. Winterkorn promised the company would “do everything in order to reverse the damage this has caused.”

Source: New York Times, via The Consumerist

Fiat-Chrysler recalls RAM trucks over faulty airbags

Another week, another bunch of recalls from embattled automaker Fiat-Chrysler. The company has announced it will be calling back 1.2 million RAM trucks across North America.

There's actually three problems here involving 2012 to 2014 Ram 1500, 2500 and 3500 pickup trucks and 3500, 4500 and 5500 Chassis Cabs.

This latest recall has to do with, you guessed it, airbags.

The drivers' side airbag has been known to inadvertently deploy without being involved in an actual crash. This has led to at least two known injuries. Furthermore, the side curtain airbags do not completely cover the vehicle pillars, which violates federal regulations.

Lastly, improper welds have been cited on the trucks' steering system. Tests have shown that if the welds break, you won't loose steering completely, but it will be significantly impaired. This has caused at least one minor crash.

The recall notice affects 236,000 trucks here in Canada. Owners will be notified by the company and dealers will repair the vehicles.

Source: Autoblog