conspiratemus1

I still think those shoes, even without the straps, have too much "contour" on the uppers: those transitions between the mesh panels and the leather provide nooks and crannies for the pedal's toe strap to get snagged on as you are inserting or extracting your foot. Especially true if there is also something weird about the interface between cleat and pedal as you and other posters have suggested. Really the cleated shoe should just slide smoothly in under the toe clip to engage when you press down, and then should easily extract when you lift your heel (plantar-flexing the ankle) to clear the cleat off the pedal edge. And yes, if the toe strap is pulled snug it is harder to extract unless you have time (after you realize you forgot to loosen it) to give a mighty lift with your hip flexors (while still plantar-flexing the ankle.) Anything that can possibly foul the movement of the shoe off the pedal will mess you up in this split-second manoeuvre. Once you get the cleat released, your foot should just fall free, with no wiggling past secondary obstructions.

Everyone I knew, including me, fell over at least once at a stop light (to the great mirth of all witnesses) while learning to ride with just straps (never mind cleats) and we all fell over again when trying later to learn clipless.