School Zone Speeding Ticket in Washington State

[Scotty425]

My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: Washington. I haven't done a lot of research in the forums so far, so let me know if I can find answers elsewhere. Every situation is a little different so I felt the need to post.

Hello all,

I am concerned with what I should say at an upcoming court date a week from Friday. I have decided to contest my first speeding ticket that occurred in a school zone, where I was doing 31 in a 20 zone. I am a 20 year old male attending college and have no prior traffic violations of any kind. In the area I received the ticket, all the flashing lights and signs were visible, and thus I feel like I don't have much of an argument against the legitimacy of the ticket. The (motorcycle) cop that pulled me over cited me for doing 30 instead of 31, supposedly reducing the cost by ~$50. The fifteen days I had to take action afterward went by quickly and I ended up deciding to try to get a mitigation, until I found out they don't happen in school zones by the lady at the municipal court. So, not having the $210 in my pocket to pay the ticket, I checked the contest box and arranged a court date.
Now that I have a court date in a little over a week, I'm wondering what exactly I should say to minimize any kind of punishment, be it points on my license or insurance implications. I'm going by myself and haven't been around the block too many times when it comes to dealing with speeding tickets. I don't know whether or not the officer that wrote the ticket is going to be there. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Scott

[Mr. Knowitall]

I assume you didn't subpoena the officer. You can hope he doesn't file his affidavit.

[kyle99]

Read this: http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=89115
I'd call the court and ask for a continuance to have time to file discovery, and post the results here to see if you have any outs. School zone tickets suck though because you can't mitigate or defer them.