I am also new to clipless and made sure the man who installed my pedals at my LBS made my clips very "loose" so they are easy to pull out. Saw a car headed my way once and the adrenaline enabled me to pull my foot straight off the pedal!

I have the low end Pearl Izumi (????) shoes with the recessed clips so I can wear the shoes into the grocery store. Also got the entry level pedals that have a regular surface on one side and clips on the other. When I'm in heavy traffic and stop and go, I don't bother clipping in but use the other side of the pedal.

Hope to graduate to the real road clips soon but hopefully won't be riding in town then.

So far so good but know my time will come. Hope its in grass (I don't bike off road) or snow (I live in S. Texas). One can only hope. . .