The crashes I've been in I didn't have time to think things through a whole lot. I reacted pretty instinctively. I have been 'down', but never purposely 'laid' the bike down. I went down because I lost control at that point, either over-braking, or hitting something. My sense is that, at least in a statistical aspect, you are better off to slow down as much as possible before hitting something, and/or falling.
I am curious: Is there anyone reading this thread who has consciously made the decision to lay their bike on its side in order to mitigate the results of a collision? Speaking for myself, I don't think I could make myself do that. But different people have different tolerances (to fear etc.) so maybe there's people out there who have the presence of mind when the chips are down to do this.
After thinking about it a bit, it seems to me that 'laying her down' is pretty counter-intuitive. And, if I had time to think about something that's so far from my experience, and then if I had time to actually perform the act, with all the seconds that elapsed, I'd have had time to brake and either avoid, or substantially lessen an impact.
I would urge anyone who's reading this thread and seriously considering its implications to do more research on the topic. I'm pretty sure you'll find that 'laying her down' is not a recommended strategy, i.e., you should be practicing emergency braking, and other techniques that afford you at least some control of the situation in an emergency. A riding school, like Keith Code's, is also not just for racers, but for those who want to better learn the craft of motorcycle riding. The MSF courses are good, but they are, in my humble opinion, like 'Riding 101'. They teach you the bare essentials. For advanced training, you need to get on a track and practice the techniques that will keep you safe. The same practices and theories that make people better racers also serve to make them better riders, in general. The best strategy for dealing with trouble is to avoid that trouble, in the first place. You do this with situational awareness, technique--and experience, time in the seat, riding.
Then there are those impacts that come out of the blue...you never see it coming. Point being, there's no way to insulate yourself from fate altogether. The best you can hope to do is improve your chances of survival. It's all probabilities, and our task as riders is to give ourselves the best odds we can. The rest is in God's--or the Devil's--hands.