Hello, and thanks in advance for any advice. Questions first, full situation below afterwards.

Q1: I've read on the 12 steps that it's best to request an extension to keep distance between the date of the ticket and the trial date, for whatever reasons. If the police department has already had to have an extension due to not being able to get the citations to the court by the date on the ticket, is it still in my benefit to request my own extension as opposed to appearing as trying to settle the matter in court in a timely manner while it's still fresh in my brain?

Q2: While I can probably get a loan from my brother if needed, I currently am an unpaid caretaker for my parents and I get most of my money from recycling and small freelance jobs when I have the time. Between that and being on Medi-Cal, I pretty much couldn't pay the fine in full and believe I'd be eligible for fine reduction. Is it possible to apply for said fine reduction before TBWD, or is that something to be done only after being found guilty / pleading guilty/no contest at the same time as asking for traffic school?

Imgur redacted ticket link: https://imgur.com/a/vtg7NxH

Situation: I was given a citation on 4/12 saying I didn't stop at the stop sign long enough when making a right hand turn at an empty intersection, with the cop saying I need to stop for the full 3 seconds and all. Between having been given a warning at this intersection before so I knew it's usually watched and the fact that I was driving way more cautiously than normal at the time because I had just bought a broken 3d printer that was too large for my trunk and didn't want anything breaking worse in the back seat on the way home, I'm rather certain that I'd have made the 3 seconds stop that day even more so than I would be any other day.

The officer told me that I'd get a courtesy mail in a week or so, and to check with the court in 3 weeks. On the citation itself, the boxes under notice are; to be notified (unchecked), appear in court at date 7:30am on 7/11/2024 (unchecked), and Respond to Citation before 7/11/2024 (this is what's checked) Following the instructions by the officer and the citation, I went to the traffic clerk window on 5/6 and was told that it hadn't been entered, but my city specifically has been a little late and to check in early June.

That led to today where I appeared again after not getting a courtesy mail yet (the mail can be slow here so I don't want to take any chances), and was told that it would appear online when it's entered into the system, as well as my city is quite behind on citations and has evidently told the court that they're going to be requesting a lot of extensions so I shouldn't be surprised if I don't get anything by 7/11 and a new date later on via mail. Also much to my slight disappointment, they don't have stamps of appearance so I can prove that I've been trying to take care of this and follow the citation.

After all that, I decided to see what my best options are and found this subreddit. Any help is appreciated.