My question involves a traffic ticket from the state of: California
I was going down 280 and was extremely tired so I was dozing off every now and then and as expected a CHP pulls me over and shows me the radar for 99. He asks if there was a reason and I just said I wasn't looking at the speed. The ticket says 99+ in a 65mph zone. This is my first ticket and I was wondering what I could do about it because I looked around and found out traffic school isn't auto eligible for my speed. I also found out that if the officer doesn't show up, it'd be dismissed. Does that only happen if I plead not guilty and go to trial or does it apply for the first court date too?
Basically, should I fight it and maybe say I was going 94 or explain to the judge and see if he dismisses it? Should I plead guilty or not? Should I see if I can find the cop and explain it to him? What are my options? Because I honestly don't have the money to pay for the fine amount or insurance hike. You could say I should've thought about that beforehand but the night before I had to work late and then study for a test that was on the day of the speeding which led to me dozing off.
If I plead not guilty and go to trial and the cop appears and I lose, will that lessen the chance of the judge allowing me to go to traffic school? Because I'd rather pay the ticket than have the insurance hike.
Oh and does this count as an infraction or a misdemeanor because the check box was marked "traffic." I'm trying to become a cop too so I can't have any misdemeanors or anything like that.

