A new car that turns out to be a lemon is bad enough, but a lemon that causes an accident and that injures you is even worse. The problem here is that not all drivers who have cars that have faulty parts realize that their cars are like that, so even if something happens with the car and that driver technically causes an accident, it's entirely possible that it's not the driver's actual fault. This is one of the more complicated cases because you and a good personal injury lawyer need to discuss what happened to determine what to do.
How Much Did the Driver Know?
You and the lawyer need to find out how much the driver knew about the car's condition. If the car had faulty brakes, for example, but the driver had just driven it off the lot and not realized the brakes were bad, that's going to make it tougher to pin the blame on the driver, especially if the driver did everything he or she could to stop the car and was not speeding or being distracted.
That's not to say you're out of luck, just that the driver of the car may be the wrong target of a lawsuit. Then you look at what the dealership knew. If there had been no previous incidents with that model or with those types of brakes, the dealer might not have known either.
Now let's say the driver did know about the brakes and was still driving because they decided they'd search for another repair shop instead of invoking lemon laws to fix or return the car. Then you might have a case.
What Had the Driver Done About the Problem Prior to the Accident?
As you can see, this sort of case has twists and turns. The driver could have been coming back from the repair shop after invoking lemon laws only to find the brakes were still bad. It's a tough situation.
What Evasive Action Did the Driver Take?
Of course, other factors play into your case. As mentioned, if the driver did everything he or she could to drive safely and stop the car, it's a terrible accident but not necessarily the driver's fault, depending on the other circumstances. If the driver was speeding, then more fault could be assigned to the driver.
What Did You Do?
And, of course, there's your part in the accident. If you live in a state that divides responsibility for accidents and you were jaywalking near a blind corner, that would affect your case, too. If you were crossing with the light in a crosswalk, you'd likely have no blame assigned to you.
In a case like this, contact your local personal injury law services quickly. You both need to gather all the details and start talking to figure out what can be done to ensure you get proper compensation for your injuries.