I predict that this is going the break the 100 reply mark. I too have gotten tickets that I deserved, and I just sent in the payment. I have had two tickets that I thought were unjustified, i fought both in court and won. In both cases, the officer just didn’t see everything that was going on, and in reality, you can’t expect them to see everything.
The problem that I personally have with apologizing to a police office is that it becomes a confession. If you intend to fight it, the apology can be used against you. Of course, if I know I am wrong and do not intend to fight it, then why not, but it usually does not help. Seems around here, if you get pulled over, you are going to collect some paper.
BTW, I noticed that they don’t ask you if you know why you are being pulled over anymore. They are a lot more business like, no chit chat.