The times I've been in traffic court the number of people who get a citation totally voided is close to zero, but it's possible that there are other outcomes between pay/don't pay so if the full fine is burdensome to you it might not be entirely waste of time showing up.

Keep in mind it's not like Perry Mason, there may be like fifty other people there and you have about 20 seconds in front of the magistrate to plead your case.

You could try something like "Your honor, I was trying to obey traffic rules but due to the confusing nature of the unfamiliar intersection I made an error. I would respectfully request my citation be reduced to a warning" and you might get lucky assuming you're not a habitual offender. Sometimes they give you a reduced fine.