careless driving/personal injury Help pls

[snowyflo]

What is the name of your state? New Jersey

*sorry for the long post but I hope someone can help me*

I got in an accident last night at 8. It was a stright road and I was on the right lane trying to make a left turn into a residential complex. There was a small triangular "road divider" with small plants and tall bushes (about 5 ft tall) in the middle of the complex entrance. There was no room for pedestrian to stand on. The area wasn't well lited either. There was only 1 light at the road divider. There was no stop sign, traffic light, crosswalk marking or anything to that effect.

It was clear when I started turning (at about 10mph or less). But all of a sudden 2 people came out behind the bushes and appeared on the left hand side. I slammed on the brake and the left front of my car hit the woman. She fell and hit the car's hood then fell onto the ground but she stood up and said she was okay (later on the cops told me she hit her head). But the guy standing next to her on the other side started yelling and cursing and repeatedly pounded on my hood making a dent and several scratches. And he later on claimed to the cops that his ankle was hurt and he started limping. A witness driving pass called the cops when I was pulling over. When the police questioned me, I was still in shock and scared and I just told him "I was following the car in front to turn. It was clear and I didn't see the people". I didn't include all the details and about the obstructed view. So he gave me a ticket for careless driving and I'm being summoned to court. The people were taken away by the ambulance.

1) Do I stand a chance to plead not guilty for the careless driving charge and prove that I was not 100% at fault because the pedestrians weren't crossing the road properly (no crosswalk marked, coming out from behind the tall bushes instead of the front where drivers can see them?)

2) A friend of mine told me the guy who demaged my hood on purpose as an act of vengeance shouldn't have done that because I can counter-sue him for the demage. I mean I don't really want to do that (because who wants to get hit by a car regardless who's at fault and I feel terrible) But he said I can use that as part of the settlement. Is it true?


Any advice is appreciated. I just got my license last year and this is my first accident. Thank you.