The issue is that I realized I wasn't going to stop in time while depressing the brakes, but just barely. That was when I pulled the e-brake and put the car into a spin, trying to burn energy. By that point, I was probably only doing 20-30mph. Thus I came to the train tracks almost parallel, but skidding along the road. My goal, as I was doing it, was to clip the train and get pushed along vs. shoved from the side. Then put the car in park to hopefully absorb as much of that impact as possible since I figured I might either die or lose consciousness. I wanted to be found on the road, instead of in the swamp on either side of the road.

I was incredibly lucky that day, there is no doubt about it, but, I also did a lot of insane driving during that point in my life. I knew how to handle that car in a variety of conditions from rain, gravel, snow, and ice and any mix of them.

Did I make the right decisions during those fleeting seconds? Possibly, possibly not. One thing I did have, was options. Options are something that has been taken away over the years through weird UX choices.