This was a deadly year on Cullman County roads and highways. As of Friday, there were 39 deaths in the county, and two Cullman residents died following accidents just outside of the county.

In October, there were seven deaths including an accident in West Point that took three lives.

By mid-November, Coroner Gary Murphree was asking drivers to slow down. He said at the time there have been double the traffic fatalities in the county than in surrounding counties in the last few weeks.

The following is a list of the fatal accidents that have occurred so far in 2007:

‰ On Jan. 5, Edmund Matthews,75, died on U.S. Highway 31, five miles south of Cullman in a two-car accident.

‰ On Jan. 31, John Michael Cunningham lost control of the 1998 GMC pickup truck he was driving on Alabama Highway 91 in Hanceville. The truck reportedly left the roadway, traveled down a steep embankment and struck a tree killing Cunningham.

‰ On March 9, Betty Cadd, 70, died in a two vehicle accident, on Alabama 69 two miles northeast of Cullman.

‰ Domingo Jose, 34, and passenger Pascual Jose, 16, died in a two-vehicle accident on March 10 on I-65 seven miles south of Cullman.

‰ On April 2, Larry Mayfield, 60, died in a three-vehicle accident on U.S. Highway 31 in Garden City.

‰ On April 12, a Lanett teenager, Justin Dale Hubbard, 18, and a woman from Valley, Evelyn Farrow, 64, were killed when their vehicle collided with an 18-wheeler near mile marker 304 on I-65, 1/4 mile north of Good Hope.

‰ Faye Cobb Dean, 71, on April 21, died following a two-vehicle accident at the intersection of Alabama Highways 157 and 69. The other driver, Raymond Fischer, 65, was not injured.

‰ On May 6, Raymond Hill, 20, died in a one-vehicle accident on U.S. Highway 278 two miles west of Holly Pond.

‰ On May 12, Lilly Brown, 23, died in a one-vehicle accident on County Road 109, 10 miles south of Cullman.

‰ J.T. Campbell, 85, died on May 12 in a one-vehicle accident five miles west of Cullman on U.S. Highway 278.

‰ Also on May 12, Steven Linscott, 45, died on I-65 two miles north of Dodge City following an accident on his motorcycle. Linscott was wearing a helmet.

‰ A May 18 accident involving two vehicles claimed the life of Martha Miller Hagedon, 40, of Cullman. Hagedon’s husband, James Hagedon, was driving a small SUV south on I-65 north of Kimberly at the time of the accident. He and his daughter, Victoria Hegadon, 12, were taken to UAB Medical Center.

Cullman Middle School students rallied around Victoria, replacing her laptop and sending her positive e-mails throughout her hospital stay.

Hagedon’s death was not a Cullman County fatality.

‰ William Copeland, 85, died May 20, in a two-vehicle accident four miles north of Cullman on U.S. Highway 157.

‰ On June 3, Vanessa LeighAnn Wood, 19, died at Huntsville Hospital after she lost control of the 1998 Chevrolet she was driving on County Road 703 three miles east of Cullman.

‰ Anthony Pichelmayer, 38, died June 30 on U.S. Highway 278 about 1/4 mile west of Cullman.

‰ John Ballard, 52, died following a one-vehicle accident on July 2 on U.S. Highway 31, in Garden City.

‰ Gary Davis, 22, died in a one-vehicle accident on County Road 1742 two miles east of Holly Pond.

‰ Late July 8, Deserie Renee Roberts, 20, and Gary Davis, 22, both of Cullman died in a one-vehicle accident on County Road 1742, about two miles east of Holly Pond, according to Murphree.

Roberts, a 2005 graduate of Holly Pond High School, had finished two years at the University of Alabama, where she was studying marketing. She was taking a summer algebra course at Wallace State Community College and planned to enter law school, according to her algebra teacher Dr. Jenny Gurley. Gurley said Roberts returned home for the summer to spend time with her father who had cancer.

Davis was a self-employed farrier.

‰ On July 18, a young mother, Ginger Nabors, 29, was killed late Wednesday morning in a three-vehicle accident on I-65 a half mile north of Warrior. Nabors left behind two children, ages 1 and 6. Neither child was injured in the accident. Nabors’ death was not counted in the Cullman fatalities.

‰ A 71-year-old grandfather, Truman Edward Gates, died July 26, in a one-vehicle accident on North I-65 near the Hanceville exit. His grandson, Michael Edward Gates, 20, was driving a 2004 Nissan Frontier pickup and lost control, according to Murphree.

‰ Janice Wright, 53, from Fairview died following a motorcycle accident on Saturday, July 28. Her husband, Warren Bruce Wright, 53, was driving a 2006 Kawasaki motorcycle that collided with another vehicle.

‰ A Decatur man originally from Cullman, Kevin J. Burtis, 29, was killed early Thursday, Aug. 2, when the GMC sport utility vehicle in which he was a passenger struck the back of a parked tractor trailer on an Interstate 65 ramp. The fatality was not part of the county total.

‰ On Aug. 3, Malcolm Baty, 66, died in a two-vehicle accident 15 miles southwest of Cullman on County Road 35.

‰ Another mother, Kathy Swann Williams, lost her life on Aug. 25 following an accident at the intersection of Alabama Highways 91 and 69 in Bug Tussle leaving behind a young son.

‰ On Aug. 26, William Ray Young, 21, died in a motorcycle accident on County Road 831 10 miles west of Cullman.

‰ Ronald Tucker, 49, died on Friday, Sept. 21 after his vehicle left the road and flipped over on County Road 813. Murphree said Tucker died on impact.

‰ Jonathan Craig Smith, 47, died in a two-vehicle head-on collision on County Road 109 six miles west of Dodge City on Sept. 24.

‰ Jessica Walker, 21, of Huntsville was airlifted to UAB Hospital after she wrecked on County Road 565, two miles north of Hanceville, on Wednesday, Oct. 10, but died later that night.

‰ Hanceville resident William Shaw, 62, died Oct. 12, after being airlifted to a Huntsville hospital following a collision with another vehicle on U.S. Highway 278 in front of the Holly Pond Fire Department.

‰ Three people died following a wreck in West Point on Friday, Oct. 19. Steve Faulkner, 50, of Vinemont, Scherry Clark, 18, of Hartselle and Matthew Moore, 30, of Vinemont died after the car they were in crashed.

‰ An 18-year-old Blountsville man died in a single-vehicle accident on U.S. Highway 278 one mile east of Holly Pond on Oct. 28. Murphree said Jared Frederick Denny lost control of his vehicle, a 2006 Ford.

‰ Charlotte Murphree Noles, 59, died after she ran off the road and hit a tree on October 29. The accident occurred on a County Road five miles south of Baileyton.

‰ On Nov. 13, Christopher Coats, 21, of Hanceville died of head injuries after his 2000 Ford left the road and struck a utility pole on County Road 587 north of Hanceville.

‰ On Nov. 17, Joshua Derrel Calvert, 22, died in a motorcycle accident on County Road 829 eight miles west of Cullman.

‰ Christopher Steve Brakefield, 27, died on Nov. 26, when he hit a tree and was ejected on County Road 35 20 miles southwest of Cullman.

‰ Dental records were needed to identify the body of Tina Marie Guthery Lee, 33, of Arab after a fiery crash burned her beyond recognition following a Dec. 1 wreck. Lee was driving a Toyota SUV that slammed into a tree along U.S. Highway 278 a few miles west of Holly Pond at 4:40 a.m.

Lee’s was the 36th road fatality of the year, said Murphree.

‰ On Dec. 3, Jerald Crumbley, 73, was driving a 1989 Ford when he collided with another driver on U.S. Highway 278 five miles east of Cullman. Crumbley died in a Huntsville hospital.

‰ La’ Keisha Love Cruz Walker, 25, from Blountsville died on Dec. 13 when the 2002 Volkswagon she was driving crashed on County Road 542 two miles south of Hancville.

Walker, who was born in Cullman County in 1982, was the 39th person to die as a result of road accidents in the county, according to State Troopers.