I'd be interested in some opinions on what to do about a traffic citation I received recently. It was for "driving through a no-passing zone to get to left turn lane"... a very minor offense (IMHO). The fine is $140, which seems stratospheric for this kind of minor infraction. I went to traffic court yesterday and got an automatic continuance of my case for another 5 weeks. Now I need to figure out what to do when I go back, because I'll have to either plead guilty and pay the fine, plead "nolo" and pay the fine, or plead not guilty and go back to court later for a bench trial.
What would you do in my situation? I am tempted at this point to just plead "nolo" and pay the exorbitant fine, especially because I understand that by pleading "nolo", the state of Georgia will not assign any points to my driving record (I currently have 0 points). Apparently you can plead "nolo" once every five years for minor violations like this and not receive points.
Part of me wants to plead not guilty and have my day in court to try to get this dismissed and avoid the fine. I think I have a fairly strong case, but it's definitely not a slam dunk. Is it worth the extra time and hassle to try to fight it, just to save $140? I have not had a traffic citation in over 15 years prior to this, so my experience with the municipal court system is basically nil.
Appreciate any and all opinions!