The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has broken with previous appellate precedent, finding that a government vehicle did not need to be in motion, either voluntarily or involuntarily, when it allegedly caused an injury in order to be considered in ”operation” for the purposes of triggering the vehicle liability exception to governmental immunity.

In Balentine v. Chester Water Authority, the high court reversed the dismissal of an action brought by a contractor’s widow, plaintiff Victoria Balentine, who sued Chester Water Authority after one of its parked vehicles was struck from behind and crashed into her husband, Edwin Omar Medina-Flores, killing him.