Speeding Tickets

Yesterday I was pulled over as I was going to work in the morning and received my very first speeding ticket for doing 58 in a 45. (Oh joy!) I've never had any traffic violations so I don't know exactly how this works. I am unable to make it to the court date and time at the bottom of the ticket because I have clbutt then.

I think the best thing to do is plead no contest and submit a written statement but I'm not sure what I should include in it and I'd like some advice from people who have experience with this and know what they want to hear. I think I'll probably start with apologizing for not being able to be their in person and explain why. What else should I mention?

I'm 22, I've had my Oregon driver license since 10-29-03 and as I said above I've had no prior traffic violations. I've only been pulled over 2 times before yesterday and neither was serious enough to get a ticket:

*The first time was for making a u-turn on a green left turn signal right in front of an officer. :-P I wasn't clear on whether or not that was okay and he let me off with a verbal warning and I've never done it since. It was about 11pm or so and there weren't many cars on the road.

*The second time was because I was having some problems with my car and driving with my hazard lights on. The officer pulled me over to see what was wrong and told me I should not be driving if the problem is so bad that I needed them. I had them on so people would know to just go around me because I was only able to go 25-30mph while I was in a 45mph zone.

Would it help to include these examples or mention that I am a student at the local college and working part-time? Please help!