With 5 pages of insights and personal testimonials under our belts, perhaps we can nip back briefly to OP's / Jerry's original question. In the context of being stopped and trapped by clipless, whether it be from a mangled uphill shift or a smooth glide to a stop at a light that just happens to be in front of a sidewalk cafe of people you know who are looking at you:

• Yes, almost all of us clipless devotees have suffered "such a scary event"
• Suggestion 1: (mentioned in passing earlier) - be sure the cleats are well positioned on your shoes, and release tension, float angles, etc., are well set up. As a non-racer, you basically want all the retention stuff set to minimum, the pedals will still work great.
• Suggestion 2: be sure the cleats aren't worn out, the pedals are well-lubed and functional not super-cheap with a sticky mechanism.
• Suggestion 3: if/when you fall next, do the old mountain biker trick of keeping your hands on your handlebars. A solid thump of your shoulder/back/hip on the ground is less likely to result in a snapped bone than you flailing and sticking a hand/arm out to break on the way down.

If you decide to opt out of clipless for any of the many good reasons, do so as a personal choice because it helps you enjoy the ride more.

Personally, I don't see clips & straps as a viable middle ground for most folks who are not already avid users of them that are very comfortable in that legacy cul de sac. If you have mastered clips and you are willing, you can master clipless. When snug, clips & straps are tougher to enter/exit than clipless. When not snug, they are not any better than flats (unless you're going purely for the retro hip look). My opinion only, others will disagree, perhaps violently. I rode off & on for 15 years with clips & straps, haven't looked back at them since I turned on to clipless, though I do see the sanity in platform pedals for some situations.