Here's what you may be able to do, as I recently went through a traffic ticket in CA in which I got the fine lowered.
Wait for the letter in the mail which states your bail amount (or in other words, the amount of the fines) and pay attention to the due date. The letter will probably give you options, like pay the fine by mail, pay in person, or request an appearance. The only way you will get the fine lowered is to appear in traffic court. This means going down to the courthouse before the due date on the letter and asking to appear for arraignment, and scheduling a date 2 or 3 weeks in advance to come to court.
As they say, come to court dressed nicely and ON TIME. Appearing in court 15 or 20 mins late could cost you your whole effort, because they will not let you make a plea without listening to a statement of your rights that the judge gives at the beginning of court. You're going to plead guilty, because I'm 98% sure the driver is guilty of the violation because 98% of stops in our state are not complete stops, aka California stops. Now, this infraction carries 1 point on your DMV record. So traffic school may or may not be something to look into. On the plus, traffic school will mask that point. On the minus, it will cost $30 to take traffic school. Insurance increase costs vs traffic school costs should be analyzed. This is all assuming you are eligible for traffic school (cant take it more than once every 18 months).
Anyways, the judge may lower the fine for appearing and taking the matter seriously and admitting fault.
They don't have to do that but a number of them will. I really can't estimate your chances because things vary by county and by judge, and I've only made 1 appearance in traffic court. He was really nice, and the only people he didn't lower the fines for were people that acted like idiots and wanted to argue circumstances and facts or people that had really bad driving records in the past. He lowered my fine by 30-35%, which I said "OK!"
That's how you go about it, but there's no guarantee. I can't recall, but I think in some instances the judge couldn't lower the fine if the defendant wanted to take traffic school. You just have to see what's offered and decide what's best. You would also need to do this process if you wanted a payment plan. So basically, if you are complaining about the cost you really need to take the time to do this. None of the other stuff you brought up is relevant to getting the ticket reduced. It's either a valid ticket or it isn't. An error small in magnitude won't negate anything.