I have not had a ticket in a few years. A few years back when I got a couple, I just showed up for court and got the speeding tickets reduced to "disobeying a highway sign". Coming from CA, I was surprised when each ticket ended up being less than $100.

Some of my friends have had more serious (read: dumbass) tickets in the past and they knew they were facing more serious consequences. They mentioned taking a safe driver course and presenting it to the judge in hopes of getting the charges or punishment reduced.

In my visits, the court didn't mention the safe driver course and no other defendants said that they had completed it.

Has anybody here used this to get a better day in court? Can a judge simply choose to ignore it?

Back in CA, you got the option of traffic school or paying the fine (and insurance bump for three years) - but that was a formal offer during sentencing. The traffic school ended up being cheaper than the fine for the first few years, then they made it more expensive than the fine. If you get any moving violation in CA, you're out a few hundred bucks before insurance gets sloppy seconds.

its called driver improvement and it can take points off your record. done by DMV