Originally Posted by alordofchaos

Eric,
If you go to court for the ticket, wait until a week or two before the court date and try to reschedule.

Lots of times, cops on traffic duty will get a block of time to show up for court. The courts try to accomodate the police by scheduling a block of that cop's cases one right after the other. Rescheduling increases the odds that the cop won't show.

If you feel really brassy... you can call the local cop shop and find out what hours the cop is scheduled for work, then try and reschedule your court date for a day/time you know that he's off.

+1 on the honesty angle, judges have heard it all. The judge will already have a copy of your driving record (at least that's SOP in MI). I wouldn't mention your record, just say that you know you were wrong, but you came very nearly to a stop and the way was clear.

Also admit you hated to fight the ticket since you know you were in the wrong, but that you are really trying to avoid the points because of the insurance.

Tifo, we call that "turfing" a lawn... I'll pray for your soul for turfing a church