Every county is different. I've got around 10 tickets over the period of 7 years in different states and counties. I paid a few tickets in the beginning. Then i took online defensive driving class to get few others dismissed. The recent one, i went to trial. The judge didn't dismiss a single ticket out of around 50 violaters who represented themselves at the court including me. And there are courts, where judge gives a break for first time violations. So, lean your court and decide accordingly.