Just one man's opinion, but...
Clips and straps will work, but IMO opinion are a poor substitute. I was riding before folks started using clipless much and was an early adopter of clipless. Clips and straps always seemed to either:
1. Be too loose to do any good.
or
2. Be much harder to get out of if the straps are cinched down. Additionally the straps if tight enough to do any good can be uncomfortable. I find all of the talk about falling over because of clipless to be hard to understand since I found them easier to get out of than clips and straps right from the start.

That said folks used them for many years before clipless became popular. So you certainly could use them.

BTW those little half clips with no straps are all but worthless in my opinion. In fact I just as soon go with bare pedals as them.