This rings true to what my grandfather (a gas truck driver for 30 years) often related. Just like a train can't stop on a dime, neither can a truck. He often had to make decisions just when approaching road intersections on flat pavement significantly in advance. Am I going for it? Speed up, even if I risk running the light. Am I not? Slow down, knowing I might not get it into high enough gear to make the light, even if it turns out I can.
Add other circumstances like ice...and, more stories.
He, once, sat at a railroad crossing behind another truck which stalled on the tracks. The lights and bells came on. He knew there was one (dangeous) choice. And one only. Push the other truck over the tracks. Otherwise, major disaster (and likely death) came to all. So he risked it. They cleared and everyone survived.
It's just to note that everything isn't always so clear cut in these situations. As rail advocates, we rightly get frustrated at how the train seems to get blamed for accidents. When, usually, it is careless (or even suicidal) drivers who are really at fault. But, in our rush to lay blame and clear reputations, let's understand that it is quite possible the truck driver here was just as much of a victim as everyone else, and just stuck in an impossible situation which wasn't easy to resolve.
