When you receive a speeding ticket, you either will be required to appear in court on a date noted on the citation, or you can inform the court that you wish to contest the ticket, and you will be assigned a court hearing date. Before your court hearing, you can request the issuing police officer or the prosecutor dismiss the ticket or citation, but this often does not work.
At the court hearing on your ticket, if the issuing officer fails to appear, the court will often dismiss the ticket. If the officer or a prosecutor does appear for your hearing, you may have factual and legal defense available to you. For example, you can present evidence to support the argument that even if you were driving above the posted speed limit, it was reasonable and prudent for you to do so under the traffic conditions at the time.
You can also try contesting the reliability of the officer’s measurement of your speed, including questioning the calibration of the radar or laser detector used by the officer or the officer’s use of their cruiser’s speedometer. As long as you can raise reasonable doubt that you were driving above the posted speed or a reasonable and prudent speed, you have a chance at receiving a finding of not guilty.