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Just because you have had a ticket or even if you are a lawyer, advice about how to handle a ticket is going to be jurisdiction-specific.

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Couldn't agree more, I've gotten plenty of tickets in NY and know how to handle those but I think NJ has some unique laws regarding traffic violations. My rule of thumb, <u>always</u> fight a traffic ticket, especially your first. Odds are good that it will get reduced and cost you less and/or not put points on your license. They are banking on you not going through the trouble of fighting it (I even told a cop that once while he was giving me a ticket since I was about 5 hours away from home and I figured he knew there would be little chance I would fight it, he didn't like that attitude, but I still fought it and got it way reduced...score).

Plus, this looks like it was something that annoyed the cop so he pulled you over to make a point. Maybe you were wrong, but then again, so it jay-walking. This seems to be a minor infraction, and the cop made a point of it so you should make a point to bog-down the legal system a little more and go through the motions. Enjoy, and good luck!