A Mt. Lebanon man whose wife was killed when a drunk driver entered Interstate 376 going the wrong way has filed a lawsuit claiming confusing and inadequate signage at the Grant Street exit helped set the fatal crash in motion. Douglas R. Kerley filed the suit on behalf of his wife, Shannon L. Morrow, who died in the April 2025 wreck on the Parkway East along with her passenger, Sharon Orlofske.
Kerley filed the lawsuit Thursday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, naming driver Pedro Olan Morales, PennDOT and the city of Pittsburgh as defendants, according to TribLIVE.com. The suit includes negligence claims against the government entities, arguing that the design and placement of warning signs near Exit 71A failed to adequately stop drivers from entering the highway in the wrong direction.
According to the lawsuit, the only wrong-way signage for Exit 71A sat at the initial off-ramp entrance, in a spot where motorists might not readily see or appreciate it amid the intersection's many Do Not Enter signs. The suit further asserts that the Grant Street exit lacked adequate warning lights or signs to alert drivers against entering the wrong way, and it describes the existing signage as confusing and conflicting.
How the Crash Unfolded
The crash happened around 7:30 p.m. on April 13, 2025, when Morales entered eastbound Interstate 376 traveling the wrong way from Grant Street in Downtown Pittsburgh. His truck struck a westbound Nissan Frontier driven by Morrow, 52, of Mt. Lebanon, killing her and her passenger, Orlofske, 77, of Monroeville, according to community.triblive.com.
Morales, who was taken to an area hospital after the crash, had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.259%, more than three times Pennsylvania's legal driving limit of 0.08%, the same report noted. He later pleaded guilty to homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, homicide by vehicle, reckless driving and causing an accident while not properly licensed, and a judge ordered him to serve three to six years in prison, per TribLIVE.com.
Signage Allegations Remain Unanswered
PennDOT and the city of Pittsburgh had not returned messages seeking comment as of late Friday, according to the same TribLIVE.com report. Whether the agencies will dispute the lawsuit's claims about the Grant Street exit's signage has not yet been addressed publicly.
Wrong-way crashes on highway ramps have drawn scrutiny well beyond Pittsburgh. In Butler County, a 36-year-old woman was killed and three others were hospitalized after a wrong-way crash in Venango Township, according to CBS Pittsburgh. And in York County, a woman recently pleaded guilty to causing a fatal wrong-way, DUI crash on Interstate 83 that killed one woman and paralyzed another, as reported by the York Daily Record.
The lawsuit filed by Kerley centers on whether government signage decisions at one specific exit ramp contributed to a fatal outcome, a question that remains an allegation rather than a court finding at this stage. For Morrow's family, the case now moves forward in Allegheny County court as they seek accountability beyond the criminal conviction already secured against Morales.
