Every traffic ticket in the US I've seen requires you to check a box to plead before you pay it (assuming you aren't fighting it). When you pay it, you are either pleading guilty or no contest. If you go to your court date instead you get asked to enter a plea and it can be not guilty.
Granted, I haven't been ticketed in all 50 states... yet.
Edit: Apparently the click-bait headline is referencing a person from Australia, despite the rest of the article talking about US law... No idea how traffic tickets work there...