Once the collision occurs, there are a few steps you can take to recover. But there are many factors that impact the outcome. Here are some of the most important factors:

1. The Extent of Your Injuries

Often, truck accident victims suffer from serious injuries. Fatalities do occur, and they can result in wrongful death claims against the liable parties. But even when there are no fatalities, the damage can be great.

Common truck accident injuries include spine damage, neck injuries, and broken bones. In some cases, the victims never fully recover from their injuries. These cases are the most serious and can result in high compensation. If you have a lifelong disability, you could receive money for your loss of income and pain. The extent of your injuries directly affects the outcome of your case.

2. The Size of the Truck

All truck accidents have the potential to be serious. However, collisions involving large vehicles tend to have greater consequences. The size difference between a large truck and a car leave car passengers unlikely to escape without injury.

Large trucks are also harder to control than smaller ones. Therefore, the truckers should drive with more care. When they drive too quickly or too closely to other vehicles, they put everyone on the road at risk.

3. The Cost of Your Medical Bills

Whether you have minor injuries or significant ones, the cost of your medical bills can be high. Visits to the emergency room are expensive, as are surgeries and therapies.

After your accident, the cost of your medical bills matters. If you seek compensation for your collision, your medical bills are one of the damages. Those bills include both past and future medical costs.

4. Negligence

You could argue that the most important factor influencing the outcome is negligence. In many truck accidents, someone’s negligence contributed to the collision. For instance, a speeding truck driver could crash into a car. By speeding, they were negligent and therefore at-fault for the accident. The same is true for drunk drivers and inattentive drivers. With 386 DUI arrests in 2016, San Bernardino is no stranger to drunk driving.

At times, negligence is not on the part of the truck driver, but the trucking company. For instance, the trucking company could force their drivers to drive for longer than the legally-mandated rest periods. The maintenance company could fail to provide proper maintenance. Even a parts manufacturer could be negligent if they manufactured a bad part.

If negligence was a part of your accident, you could file a personal injury claim against the at-fault party. As a result, you could receive money for your injuries, missed paychecks, and pain and suffering.