Lauren and Claire McCormack, Jeanie Bulloch and Kai McCormack (l-r) wave to catch the attention of oncoming State Road A1A drivers. They are in the same Delray Beach crosswalk where a fatal accident occurred Feb. 5. Police say crosswalk signs were not present at the time of the crash. Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star
By Rich Pollack
Roz Lowney loved the South Florida lifestyle.
A devoted family matriarch who enjoyed playing canasta at a local beach club, Lowney and her husband of 50 years lived in Canton, Massachusetts, with Roz spending winters in Delray Beach and her husband, Tim, a family physician, leaving his practice for short vacations and long weekends here.
Friends said he was just a day away from heading to their Florida condo when he got word of a tragic crash that would devastate a tight-knit family.
Roslyn Lowney, a mother of four and a grandmother of nine who married her high school sweetheart, was killed when she was struck by two cars as she crossed State Road A1A on her way home after playing canasta and having dinner with friends at the Delray Beach Club.
She was 71.
“We wish we had more time with her but cherish the time we had,” her family wrote in an obituary that appeared in the Canton Citizen, which serves a community where the Lowneys have become an integral part of the fabric.
The Feb. 5 crash took place at night, shortly before 8:30 p.m., on a Delray Beach portion of A1A that was — and remains — under construction.
According to Delray Beach police, Lowney was walking west from the club in a crosswalk when she was struck by a northbound vehicle driven by a 76-year-old man. She was then pushed into the southbound lane where she was struck by a second vehicle driven by a 48-year-old woman. Both vehicles stopped. No charges have been filed and no citations issued while police continue their investigation.
Delray Beach police said there were no crosswalk signs at the time of the crash. Area residents said there were signs for the crosswalk before construction began and that the signs were back following the fatality. The signs now in place do not have flashing lights — neither automatic nor pedestrian-activated.
Officials with the Florida Department of Transportation, which is charge of the construction contract, did not respond to emails from The Coastal Star seeking comment.
Safety concerns
The construction in the area where the crash occurred is part of a year-long $8.3 million A1A resurfacing project that began in July and stretches 3.35 miles, from Linton Boulevard and through Highland Beach to the Boca Raton line.
Some residents who live near the club don’t bother with the crosswalk.
In Highland Beach, town leaders have been urging residents to be cautious and patient when using A1A. For several years, the town has been providing orange flags at crosswalks to help ensure motorists see pedestrians crossing. The town also has pedestrian-activated flashing yellow lights at crosswalks.
“We’ve seen people using the flags at night,” Town Manager Marshall Labadie said.
Boca Raton also has orange flags available at its A1A crosswalks, but Delray Beach’s — like the one where Roz Lowney was struck — do not.
At home in Delray
In an email to The Coastal Star, the Lowney family wrote that she would often traverse A1A, going to and from the Delray Beach Club.
“Roz would walk across the street to the beach club and there she would enjoy water aerobics, yoga, mahjong, canasta, her great friends, the amazing staff, and the beach,” the family wrote.
She also enjoyed playing golf.
Roz and Tim Lowney, according to the family, had been spending winters in Delray Beach for the past 20 years, living for most of that time in the Tropic Isle community. They joined the Delray Beach Club six years ago and purchased the A1A condo across from the club a little more than a year ago.
“They treasured spending their winters in Florida and their summers in Cape Cod,” the family wrote.
While she was away from home, Roz Lowney continued to work remotely as bookkeeper for her husband’s medical practice.
‘A blast to be around’
Friends in Florida who knew Roz Lowney describe her as an outgoing woman with a great sense of humor.
“She was funny and just a blast to be around,” said a longtime friend, who added that Roz loved the Delray Beach Club. “She was always there.”
Her family said that she enjoyed being with other people.
“She was the first one to make a plan to get people together to eat, laugh and enjoy each other’s company,” they wrote. “She will be sorely missed by her family and friends in Florida and beyond.”
Recent A1A fatal crashes
The crash that killed her comes less than two months after a bicyclist on State Road A1A in Boca Raton was killed after he was struck from behind by a Chevy Equinox shortly after 7 a.m.
The driver involved in the Dec. 15 accident was charged with DUI after police said he failed sobriety exercises.
Since 2021, there have been two other pedestrian fatalities on A1A in southern Palm Beach County reported by The Coastal Star.
On Nov. 10, 2023, a 73-year-old South Palm Beach woman was killed when she was struck in a hit-and-run crash while crossing A1A by her home, a short distance north of Lantana’s Ocean Avenue. Police later charged a 43-year-old woman with leaving the scene of a fatal accident and tampering with evidence.
The speed limit has since been lowered in the town from 35 mph to 30 mph and several signs have been erected urging drivers to be careful and share the road.
In 2021, New York Federal Judge Sandra Feuerstein was killed when she was struck by a Honda Civic that was driven onto the sidewalk on A1A near Spanish River Boulevard. The female driver later pleaded guilty to charges including driving under the influence causing serious bodily injury.
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