Careless/Prohibited Driving in Arkansas

My question involves a careless driving ticket from the State of: Arkansas
I was stopped at a traffic light with my left turn signal on, with only 1 oncoming car at the light. One block down the road, there was 1 oncoming car at another light. Both lights turned green at the same time. I turned left between the two cars. I did not accelerate excessively or even chirp the tires. The 2nd car was a state trooper. He did not have to stop, but turned behind me and pulled me over, issuing a ticket for careless/prohibited driving. I had a passenger/witness in the car with me. I had taken my mother for a follow-up with her surgeon and an appointment with her oncologist, so was driving carefully for her sake as well. I am 47 and have only received 1 traffic ticket when I was 18. I do not feel that I was being careless and would like to keep this off my record as I have a CDL and drive a school bus as well. What do you suggest? The trooper informed me that I did not have to appear in court, but could just call and send in my payment, since I live about 2 hours away. Would going to court keep this off my record?

Given that you have a CDL, I would suggest having a lawyer assist you - the stakes, obviously, are much higher for you than for most drivers.

If you simply plead guilty by mail and pay a fine, the ticket goes on your record. If you don't want that you need to dispute the ticket and either try for a plea bargain (including, if possible, a deferral or dismissal) or fight the ticket in court.

Thanks! That is what I thought, but wanted to make sure it was the right thing to do.