Simple advice,If you can afford missing work,Contest it.Plead not guilty.Have your day in court and tell the judge your side of the story.
In my younger days I had a run in or 2 (or maybe a few more than that)with the law.Mostly the small stuff.Sometimes I deserved it.Sometimes not.Ive been lectured to by the judge ,and have seen the judge lecture the officer. I actually had a judge tell an officer how sick and tired of him taking advantage of the public he was,that he dropped the case and got up and walked out of the courtroom after telling me to get a lawyer and see if I had other avenues I should pursue.The judges know those cops and some of the cops get reputations,just like some of us do.
One thing I learned is always plead not guilty.You never know when the ticket will get thrown out for any of a number of reasons.Heck maybe the officer got sick and couldnt make it to court that day.Case dimissed.
At the very least you can tell your side of the story,present any info,evidence,or witnesses.Then maybe get your ticket lowered.
One other thing,cops have bad days just like us,They put up with jerks,deal with everything imaginable.and are under huge amounts of stress.So always remember that,and always be respectful,no matter what.You'll be glad you did.