Couple of things...
Go to court and hope that he doesn't show up. If he doesn't, the judge might dismiss the entire case.
Check the ticket for any errors (Make of car, color, time, street corner during infraction), sometimes the judges will penalize the traffic officials for making stupid mistakes.
Say that if not for you going around this vehicle, you could have had a serious accident (i.e. the guy in front abruptly stopped, which gave you little time/space to maneuver and if not for your going around the vehicle, you would have gotten into an accident that would have placed both you and the other driver in the hospital). You could add that he didn't have a signal light on when entering the lot.
If you know another cop with a higher rank (i.e. detective) have him call it in and get it dropped.
You said you were driving behind the officer, this possibly gives you a good amount of leeway to defend your argument in stating that he had very limited visibility and could not assess the immediate danger you were in if not for your maneuver.
The cop was Mexican, offer him some food, free phone cards, a new pair of sneakers and tequila. MIGHT WORK..
"1"
Thanks for the advice! The visibility / accident potential thing, in particular, is a good point. I was thinking last night, since I barely crossed over the line at all, I might be able to argue that the officer, being roughly perpendicular to me, and nearly off the road when I "passed" him, wouldn't have the proper perspective to judge whether I really even crossed into the "no passing zone" at all.
I'm also considering mentioning that, while I was completely polite for the entire exchange, the officer was in an extremely foul mood for no apparent reason, possibly indicating impaired judgment.
Another interesting tip I read on another site, which may help others in my position, is to delay your court hearing as much as possible. Often, officers schedule lots of infraction hearings on one day so they can knock them all out at once, and if you delay, you may be able to catch him at a time when he wasn't planning on coming in, and therefore won't. I don't think I'm going to do this since I want to get things taken care of quickly, though maybe I should.
And for everyone saying "why don't you just shut up and pay the ticket?" I don't mind paying the fee, although I don't have much money, but I do mind accruing points on my driving record, especially for something that may not even be illegal, and certainly shouldn't be -- like I said, this maneuver is performed countless times every day by people avoiding cyclists, inappropriately parked vehicles, pedestrians on streets with no shoulder, etc. out of NECESSITY.
I received a speeding ticket recently and paid it without complaint -- I was speeding substantially on the freeway and had a habit of it. I've since changed my habits. This infraction, however, will not compel me to change my behavior whatsoever, and anyone who sits behind a pedestrian for five minutes going three mph because they don't want to dip over a solid line for two seconds, or thinks this, or any of a number of "offenses" equivalent to mine, ought to constitute criminal behavior, is a retard.
