The relative safety of straps vs clipless may be commensurate with personal adaption. I've never used clipless, although I have a box of shoes and some SpeedPlay parts around somewhere. But I've used clipless pedals since I was twelve years old, and they are as natural to me as walking. Sure, you can pull on them, but I cannot see that they are as efficient as clipless. They have other advantages.

The only time I got in trouble with straps and clips was when I used quill pedal cleats on some Shimano shoes. I ended up turtle in the middle of an intersection. Besides, I could never get the damn cleats to stay fixed in one place on the shoe.