I wouldn't be so quick to assume that the car tried to run the warning lights. I'm envisioning a scenario where there was a red light at the nearby intersection and a line of traffic that extended back over the railroad crossing ... or perhaps another scenario where the vehicle got stuck in ice or snow at the crossing. The initial reports said something about the driver getting out of the vehicle to check something before it was hit.
Reports this morning indicate that the woman in the SUV had the gates come down and hit her car, and she got out to check for damage... amazing.
Check her cel phone records - she may have been in the midst of a phone interview to become the first woman Head Coach of the Seattle Seahawks.