Get a cheap pair of platform pedals and try it. Depending on how you ride, there may be no difference in performance, riding plain platforms vs. clipless. Have you ever tried old-fashioned toe clips and straps? (They work just as well as clipless, and can be easier to get out of, as long as you don't put them real tight).

I fell once when I first went clipless- luckily, on the grass, on my own property.....

For the first few weeks when I started riding clipless, I'd always repeat to myself "Unclip! unclip! Unclip!". Once you get into the habit of anticipating stops and unclipping before you stop; or in situations where you think you may have to stop suddenly, it'll become second nature.

[*= I unclip if, say, I'm coming to a stop sign where I have to cross a highway- where I can just slow down and look for traffic, and may or may not have to actually stop. That way, in case I have to stop suddenly, I have one foot unclipped.)

Don't automatically clip both feet in when you first take-off, either. If you start to go and clip in, and then have to suddenly stop, you'll be SOL. Get moving and make sure the coast is clear, and then clip in.....and until it becomes unconscious habit, just keep thinking "unclip! Unclip!". Don't just unclip when you know you'll be stopping, but unclip if there's even a possibility you'll have to stop, because it's those "iffy" situations- like where you think yopu can roll through a right turn at an intersection, but then find that you have to stop at the last minute, which are often the ones where you fall; the ones that get you at the last minute, where there suddenly isn't time to unclip; or your mind is distracted with other things. Just think a little ahead...and it really does become second-nature very quickly.