MA. Tickets have “I’d like to pay” or “I’d like a hearing”. No mention of guilt.

Hearings are civil, not criminal, and you represent yourself in front of a magistrate (baby judge). If you tried to represent yourself in a criminal case, the judge would give you a very hard time about that choice. Either way, you don’t call witnesses, there’s no cross examination, and no discovery.

I don’t get where people are going full Law&Order, demanding to see their accuser.

The (Australian) law actually says you can’t have your phone out (face up/down doesn’t matter). And I think the law is consistent with other common sense traffic safety:

• You can’t have an open beer bottle within reach
• You can’t have a firearm within reach

Phone use has been shown to be equivalent (or in some cases, far worse) to driving over the BAC limit.

Or more concisely: the government should never contract out law enforcement to private companies.

Have you ever fought a traffic ticket? You’re not on trial. You’re not pleading guilty/not-guilty. It’s an administrative/civil thing.

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