I went to high school in the mid-late 80's, and I rode '10 speed' bikes with these turkey wing brake levers. This was around the time when people were switching over to MTB's, but lots of kids still rode these 10 speed bikes. Everyone rode with their hands on the tops. I don't think I had ever seen anyone riding on the hoods or the drops. We went everywhere riding those 10 speeds with these 'suicide levers'. The brakes worked just fine. Don't believe the scare stories.
Keep in mind that non-aero brake levers did not work well when braking from the hoods. So if you think you can get rid of the turkey wings and get better results by braking from the hoods- you will be sorely disappointed. These non-aero brake levers only really worked well on the drops.