Suzie, from the photo it looks like you have SPD pedals. I completely understand your fear of SPD because I have them on my mountain bike. It was difficult to clip/unclip until I learned you could adjust the tension on the SPD's so that it is easier to get in and out of ... in fact, after time it got too easy and I had to readjust to keep my foot clipped better! Have you tried loosing the tension to make it easier to unclip?!

Also, when I got my road bike, I changed the pedal system from SPD-R's (a once popular version of SPD's for road bikes) to Speedplay because I found it MUCH easier to get in and out of pedals. Speedplays are not for everyone, but makes me wonder if you changed your SPD system to something else if it would be easier and give you more confidence on quick stops and hills ... just a thought.

Good luck!