My 1976 Motobecane Mirage came with those turkey leg safety levers. They worked just fine. Any braking problems were due to that bike's original steel rims, not the brake levers.

I removed the "safety" levers a couple of times over the years: once when I was racing crits and time trials, mostly because it looked dorky but I couldn't afford a proper racing bike; another time to provide clearance for a handlebar bag.

But I commuted in traffic a lot and those turkey leg levers were handy for riding the tops where I could sit upright and see traffic better.

Nowadays if I used a drop bar bike for commuting I'd install those inline "interrupter" levers for better mechanical advantage.