Saylor v. Troup County

In Saylor v. Troup County, 225 Ga. App. 489 (484 SE2d 298) (1997), the plaintiff was injured while working as an inmate on a prison work detail. At the time of the incident, he was sharpening a swing blade on a vise attached to the bumper of a van. As he was doing so, he was bumped by a tractor being operated by another inmate. As a result, he allegedly lost his balance and fell across the swing blade. The van and tractor were owned by Troup County. The county had purchased liability insurance for the van but not the tractor. The question on appeal was whether the plaintiff's injuries arose out of the "ownership, use or maintenance" of the van so as to trigger the liability insurance coverage for the van and a waiver of the county's sovereign immunity. The Court answered this question in the negative, because "the van was inoperative, parked off the roadway with its engine not engaged" when the plaintiff was injured. "The plaintiff was merely using the bumper of the van for placement of the vise, and the van itself was only remotely related to the accident." The Court, therefore, concluded that the plaintiff's injury did not " 'originate in' " or " 'flow from' the use of the van as a motor vehicle." Id.