ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS take tickets to Court. NEVER take the lazy American way out and write out a check and send it in.
It dosent matter if you are guilty or not. They want you to just write out a check. Thats how they make money. When people take tickets to Court, they dont make any money because they have to pay the cop, the judge, the ADA, the court staff, docket the case, etc, etc, etc. If everyone took thier tickets to Court, cops wouldnt be out doing what they do because there wouldnt be any cops on the street.
First off, there is a 50/50 chance that the cop will not show up for the trial and in that case BOTH tickets will be dismissed upon you motion (request) to the Court. That means no points on your lic, no insurance fees and no getting labeled a bad driver. I have had this happen on exactly half of the cases that I have taken to court.
Even if the cop does show up, the judge may still take your side of the issue and throw one or both of them out. Not likely, but possible. Sometimes the ADA and/or the judge will split the difference and dismiss one and find you guilty of the other. In this case, you cut your losses in half. Worst case, give the judge a sad story about how you're broke (if you really are, dont lie) and he will usually reduce the fine a little.
You may want to contact The National Motorists Association for assistance on this. Also, if you are a member, they would pay for your fines if you go to court and lose. They are at
www.motorists.org.
You might also try joing the discussion forum at
www.sitciot.com, they mostly deal with seatbelts but will sometimes help with other tickets too. They have members experinced with litigation of tickets and can help you with Court appearances.
Only a fool writes out checks and sends them in for traffic citations.