There's nothing wrong with contesting a traffic ticket.
I contested two tickets I got in California by mail, using the process as described by the state legislature. I posted about it here in the TUG lounge. One was dismissed and I paid the fine on the other one.
California, specifically, has a rule about speed limits that require traffic surveys for a speed limit to be considered legal. If the speed limit is 25 on a road and the average speed on that road is 35 or 40, the 25 MPH speed limit is not legal on that road. Radar and other speed measuring devices have to be calibrated and tested properly in order to ensure their accuracy. If they can't produce the records to prove that they have been properly calibrated and tested, you can have the ticket dismissed.
There's all kinds of good reasons to contest any ticket, and that's what due process is about. I don't pretend that due process actually exists in many traffic courts, but I don't see any problem with contesting any violation, no matter what you did or didn't do, and I don't think anybody should be judged by the people here for doing it and posting about it, unless of course, you are so completely perfect that you've never done anything wrong in your life.
I've contested many tickets that were written above that 1MPH difference between a small amount of points and a large number of points, and in all cases, all I had to do was talk to the prosecutor and ask him to agree to reduce the offense to the lower speed and I would plead guilty at the lower level. If he didn't agree to the terms, I could get a postponement, hire an attorney, and decide what to do from there.
-David