Could you offer me some tips on arguing against my stop sign citation?

You could try "I heard that STOP signs with a white outer edge are optional".

Seriously, there is no valid excuse, other than trying to escape the zombie apocalypse, and the judge has literally heard thousands of pathetic attempts. Just plead guilty and hope that the sentence will be reduced to just a monetary fine and the points get dropped.

If you are lucky, and the officer is required to be in court no matter how you plan to plead, then if you go to court and he doesn't make it, the case is dismissed.

More and more jurisdictions are figuring out ways to keep the latter from happening, from only requiring the officer to be present if you plan to plead innocent, to scheduling in advance days in which the officer is to be in court for a whole bunch of his ticket recipients.

If there is a reasonable explanation, don't be afraid to go with "guilty with an explanation". I did that when I was ticketed for driving without my headlights on in Washington DC, my explanation being that I had just departed from being parked in front of a restaurant less than half a short block before the intersection (the cop was on the road T-ing into the main road), right after the intersection is the speed limit sign (for those who just turned onto the road), I glanced down at my speedometer and noticed the lights were not on so I turned them on immediately, then the officer turned in behind me and pulled me over. I didn't notice my headlights were not on as the road there was so brightly lit (with a string of restaurants and stores on both sides right there), there were no other cars in sight at that late hour, the distance traveled was minimal before I noticed and corrected the situation myself, and I easily passed the several sobriety tests the officer gave me as I only had a single beer at the start of the two hour meal I had with my visiting friends because I was the designated driver. The judge asked the officer a few questions, then dismissed the case! Even though I had plead guilty!

Even in college, getting caught with beer in the dorm (of course underage), carrying it up the stairs but it happened that a couple RAs were chatting in the stair well. We played it cool and continued to my buddy's room, and the two of us proceeded to try to drink as much of a 12-pack as we could before they followed us and knocked on the door. They did, we didn't bother to try to deny it. At the dorm honor council meeting about our infraction, we didn't try to fight it, just accepted what they would give us. Only a mere 8 hours each helping the cleaning ladies clean the dorm on the weekend (and they let us go early). The same night, my lab partner and her longtime boyfriend (later husband) made a big stink when they were caught, and tried to fight it at the (same) honor council meeting. I don't remember what their punishment was, but it was a LOT worse than we got, even though technically it was the same infraction.

Don't be stupid. Own up to your mistakes and you will be judged with more respect.

P.S.- my buddy and I had in fact been carrying up two 12-packs, but I figured out a truly ingenious place to hide that one. The one 12-pack was mostly empties in the trash and a few still in the box, except the one I was half finished with. When the RAs came, I was down the hall in the bathroom. I saw them at the room as I approached and went in the room anyway (no, I was not drunk; a lot of the alcohol hadn't had time to get absorbed yet, and I have a naturally high tolerance; phenomenally high during college and a number of years after as one's system builds up a tolerance if it "keeps in practice", as it were.) The RAs asked where my beer was, and I lifted the birthday card on the corner of the desk to reveal my beer can hiding between the leaves of the greeting card. Such a pathetic show of hiding that can probably convinced them that there wasn't anything else to find if they hadn't found it already. That was part of my plan, as any idiot can count to 12, so the best hiding place would have been useless for that can that would have to be coughed up. So where was my brilliant hiding place for the second 12-pack? The dirty clothes laundry basket. How many people do you know want to dive into some college boy's dirty laundry basket? We waited a while to be sure they were not coming back, then pulled it out and drank those. :)

Asking in travel might not be a bad idea, because there is some regional variation in what works best. Not what story to make up, but whether there is an advantage to pleading guilty in court or just paying the fine without the court appearance. You should try to take traffic school. That can get points removed and avoid getting your insurance premiums increased. There may or may not be a fine reduction for that. It may or may not require you to do the court appearance. In Idaho the answer is usually just pay the fine unless you have an actual case to present, and get a pamphlet from the clerk for traffic school.

If no one here has an answer specific for Atlanta or for Georgia, then check with the clerk of the court for your options.

Admit your mistake and pay the fine. That's my advice. And don't do it again. Actions have consequences and the sooner you learn that, the better. The judges have heard any excuse you might come up with.

As far as saving money by pleading guilty, look on the ticket itself and see what it says. Or call the police and ask them - or a lawyer.

But, this isn't a travel question. Well, I guess you DID "travel" through the stop sign....

There isn't much defense to running a stop sign. You either did or you didn't come to a complete stop.

If you ran the stop sign don't waste your time fighting it. Just pay the fine and don't lose a day sitting in court.

If you have no defense then you need to pay the fine. You can't make up a story. You either did it or you didn't and if you didn't run the stop sign you'd already know why and you'd have your defense. You wouldn't be asking us to come up with your alibi.

go to court. if you haven't had previous tickets, the judge will prob let you do a driving class. it's cheaper than than the ticket and the ticket won't go on your insurance. if you have had previous tickets--this won't work, just pay it

this is not a travel question. ask in law.