With less than three hours to go before the start of 2008, a 46-year-old Gaffney man walking home from a holiday party Monday night became the county's 18th traffic fatality of the year.

According to Cherokee County Coroner Dennis Fowler, George Mapp Tuck Jr., of 124 Nellie's Road, was walking south on the shoulder of the northbound lane of Highway 18 at about 9:10 p.m. when he attempted to cross the road and walked into the path of a 2003 Ford Ranger driven by Alton Martin, of River Hills Road, Union.

The accident occurred about three miles south of Gaffney near the intersection of Garvin Lake Road.

Fowler said Tuck died at the scene from massive trauma. He has ruled the death accidental.

Neither Martin nor a passenger in his truck were injured.

The South Carolina Highway Patrol didn't release any additional information about the accident Tuesday.

Tuck is the fourth person killed on a Cherokee County roadway since Dec. 15 and the 18th to die in 2007.

On Dec. 15, Kevin Eugene Sarratt, 44, of Gaffney, was killed while riding a bicycle on S.C. Highway 150.

On Dec. 21, Paulette and Veronica Lynne Toussant, of Fort Mill, a mother and daughter headed to New Orleans for the Christmas holiday, were killed on Interstate 85 when a car headed in the opposite direction crossed the median and collided with them head-on in the southbound lane.

Tuck's obituary appears on page 8.