Gotta disagree with you there. There are two reasons why clipless is better, from my personal experience: first, it improves your pedaling technique, and second, it improves pedaling efficiency, esp. when out of the saddle pedaling uphill. I've never felt comfortable with the idea of manually clipping/unclipping via a belt or some other over the foot contraption, that you need to reach down and clip by hand. Once you get the hang of it, clipless becomes second nature. As far as safety is concerned, I've only had one accident clipless, that was when I snapped the crank arm on my bike going uphill. And even then, clipless was a godsend. Imagine trying to ride 5 miles with only one pedal on platforms.