well i got a ticket.
 

not happy about it, but there's no shifting blame on this. i was at fault and was doin 58 in a 35. the road was a 5 laner and this was at 2 in the morning. and, no that's not an excuse. just me thinking that those conditions warrented faster driving i guess.

so any tips? i hope i don't have to go to court...can i just pay the fine and be done?

and anyone know how my insurance will climb here?

The laws vary state to state, and even county to county (depending on who pulled you over). If this is your first ticket, you could probably better your position by going to court and asking for traffic school or court supervision. Most of the time this means that you pay the fine, but it does not go on your record if you either a) go to traffic school (sometimes even available online), or b) don't get another violation for 90 days. If you do that, your insurance probably won't be affected at all. Also, I've been told by my agent that some companies do not even consider tickets once you are already an established customer, they only consider accidents and claims. I have State Farm, have had a few tickets so I asked the question and got that answer, and it's never showed up on my insurance. Hope that helps. :)