If panic ever happens again at a stoplight,
shut off the motor and put it in whatever gear you need to go from there... .
Don't know if this is helpful or not, but...
Another test is to put the car on jackstands, start the car, and see if your clutch is working to engage/disengage the rear wheels from rotating while in gear. If you are fully depressing the clutch pedal and the rear wheels keep spinning while in gear, its a good chance you won't get in gear easily at the next stoplight either.
You can perform the opposite test with the motor shut off, while on jackstands, to see if you can rotate the rear wheels by hand while the clutch pedal is pressed to the floor by a helper friend. If you cannot rotate the rear wheels with the clutch pedal to the floor, there is a good chance the clutch/pressure plate/slave cylinder is not doing its job for whatever reasons.