I believe if you chose a not-guilty plea and the cop does not show you are correct. I chose a not-guilty plea once but the cop showed and the case did not work out in my favor (passing in a no passing zone).

Now specie, when you requested a court date did they also ask you for a plea? If they didn't then the first appearance should work out as I mentioned above. I have been to traffic court about a dozen times and have gotten out a lot of tickets by doing so, but all that was over a decade ago so my information may be out of date. I got out of my first racing ticket by doing what I have suggested to you, but my second ticket stuck since the judge didn't care much for me when he read my 2 page driving history (even adjudicated tickets are on your permanant record, only the points are withheld).

If you have the money (it will be several hundred dollars at the least) chethewitt has a point that getting a lawyer never hurts, though for a misdemeanor its usually a bit much.

Then again, the one time I was charged with a felony I immediately hired a lawyer, fought it and won.

My advice to anyone charged with a felony or a serious traffic incident that results in injuries or property damage is to hire a lawyer ASAP.