This is probably a UK anomaly but I have had to take the Crosswind runway when I would rather take the into wind runway because I am on an instructional flight and the into wind runway isn't licensed.
Well, you shouldn't take off unless you know where there's a runway you can safely and legally land on, but at the end of the day if it comes down to a choice between a crash on a crosswind runway and landing illegally on an into-wind runway I know which I'd choose.