Court Opinion

ID: 9712387
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 04:52:39.294753+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:11.756854
License: Public Domain

SHIRLEY S. ABRAHAMSON, C.J.
¶ 30. (concurring). The issue presented is whether the following conduct constitutes "operation of a motor vehicle" under Wis. Stat. § 102.03(2) when the motor vehicle lurches forward on the turn of the ignition key and injures a co-employee: An employee who is outside a vehicle turns the ignition key of a vehicle that is connected to a machine to flush the radiator and the vehicle cannot be driven on a public roadway while attached to the machine. I agree with the majority opinion that the answer to this question is NO.
*380¶ 31. The instant case does not present the only fact situation in which the question of whether particular conduct constitutes "operation of a motor vehicle" under Wis. Stat. § 102.03(2). The court's decision does not provide the answer to other fact situations because the court, like the statute, does not define specifically or generally what "operation of a motor vehicle" means under Wis. Stat. § 102.03(2).
¶ 32. Furthermore, other statutes defining "operation of a vehicle" (or a variation of this phrase) are of no assistance in defining "operation of a motor vehicle" under Wis. Stat. § 102.03(2). In many of these other statutes the legislature has defined "operation of a vehicle," and in cases coming to this court, the court interprets the statutory definition of operation of a vehicle. Furthermore, the meaning of the phrase "operation of a vehicle" depends on the purpose of the statute.
¶ 33. Today's opinion decides this case. Different conduct will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis — not on a standard set forth in the instant case.
¶ 34. Accordingly, I concur.
¶ 35. I am authorized to state that Justice ANN WALSH BRADLEY joins this opinion.