Lawyers make big money for a reason. If they're gonna charge you $150/hr to hear your side of the story, and then to argue on your behalf in front of the judge - you're better off just assuming the fine and dealing with it.
It's a no-win situation when it comes to petty offenses.
Back in 2014, I was in my usual morning routine... was heading to the post office to send out some bills and then on the way to the grocery. I took my usual backroads route. There was a lady in an SUV ahead of me at the stop sign at an intersection. I thought she was about to pull out, so without paying attention (looking to the left to see oncoming traffic as I was moving right) obviously I didn't sense that she'd simply pulled up a few feet. I assumed she was moving on, and I popped the gas and bumped into her from behind. Totally my fault.
She's hysterical... I walk up to her drivers side window and tell her that maybe we should pull off to the side to not block traffic, where we can exchange insurance info and phone numbers, etc. Very routine fender bender, not much damage to either vehicle really. Definitely not a situation where the local authorities needed to intervene. I dented her bumper, basically. She gets out of the vehicle crying. I just wrap my arms around her and say, "Hey, it's okay. This wasn't your fault. I'm to blame here." She thanks me for comforting her and then goes back to her vehicle.
Well, turns out that her husband is a city cop in Allentown. She called him. He showed up in his personal vehicle, still wearing his uniform because he was on-duty at the time. He gets out, and without even going to her to see if she was okay - he says to me, "WTF? How did this happen?" I said to him, "Dude, calm down. She moved closer to the intersection and I thought she was moving off. I wasn't paying attention to her intentions, assumed she was pulling out, was looking left for the oncoming traffic and bumped into her. It was a simple mistake. I apologize." He nodded and said, "Okay. But you need to pay more attention!" Well duh - obviously.
So then we exchange insurance information, etc. and then her cop husband says, "I think this needs to be logged." So he calls the state police. 30 minutes later the state trooper shows up. He asks me what happened, totally ignoring the city cop husband. I explained to him what happened, that I was at-fault, we exchanged insurance information. The state trooper just shakes his head.... So he then goes over to interview the lady who I bumped into. And then he says to them, "Look, I'm not sure why I was called out here... no injuries, both cars are well off the road, not blocking traffic, neither vehicle has sustained what I would consider even moderate damage." The city cop husband says, "Well - we just want it documented in case there's an insurance issue." I then replied, "Hey - what does it cost to replace a bumper? I'll write out a check and send it to you, insurance doesn't even need to get involved here. Get me an estimate - I'll send it out."
The state trooper says, "Sounds like everything's good here. There's no reason to further things from what I can tell." The city cop husband says, "I want it documented." The state trooper looks over at me and rolls his eyes... "Alright, if that's what you insist."
So he tells me to go back to my car and wait for him. He writes out a report. He then spends a couple minutes with the couple talking to them and then they leave. Then he comes over to me and says, "Hey... I hate to do this. I tried every way in the world to convince them this wasn't needed. I'm gonna have to write you citation for driving too closely, and this will ultimately end up on your driving record. But here's what I'm gonna do: I'm gonna suggest that you appeal the fine. Show up in court the day of the hearing, and I'll make it a point not to be there. If I'm not there - it'll get thrown out and you won't have to pay the fine, nor will it show up against your driving record."
I kindly thanked him. True to his word, he wasn't present for the appeal hearing 6 weeks later and the judge ended up throwing the case out.
But in that situation - you had a cop who was an absolute prick, and another cop who saw things for what they were.
There's a lot more bad stuff going on in the world than writing out a meaningless traffic citation to help meet the city quota for the month.
Unfortunately you ran into Barney Fife that day.
I'd just show up in court, explain to the judge your frustrations and why you felt compelled to do what you did, and assume the fine. Most likely it'll get downgraded to nothing.
Been there, done that.
You don't need a lawyer imo, unless you want to turn a $125 fine into a $1500 experiment to understand how flawed our judicial system is.