Definitely invest in some good shoes and clipless pedals. There are many threads on which is best, but there really is no right answer. A lot of the answer depends on how and where you ride and whether you have any problems with your knees.
Speedplay are nice becuase you can clip in from either side and they allow a lot of float (twisting of the heel) without popping out. This feature is especially valuable for riders with knee problems. The downside is that they do not tolerate dirt. I had a friend spend 20 minutes cleaning his pedals and cleats before he could resume a ride after a break.
The Look (and Shimano SPD-SL) style are popular because they have a broad surface area. They only work on one side, though, and although they are not fouled by dirt as easily as the Speedplay, It is recommended that you cover the clips when you are walking to keep from wearing the cleats down.
The Shimano SPD mountain bike pedals have the advantage of not being fouled by dirt and being double sided. Some road bike purists knock them because they are "mountain bike pedals", but there is nothing to prevent them from being used on road bikes. They do not weigh any more than road bike pedals, but the bolt position on the cleats is different from road bike cleats, and many road shoes will not work.
I use the SPD pedals (
http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=17524&subcategory_ID=10045) on my road bike because I do mostly event rides where I get off and walk around every 15 to 20 miles. The mountain bike shoes are easier to walk in and the SPD pedals work well even if the cleats are dirty. My son-in-law, however, replaced his SPD pedals with Look pedals because he found the "target" too small and was not able to master the art of cliping in without looking on his SPD pedals. I never had that problem.
Everyone falls once. It is part of the process. I practiced getting in and out with the bike on the trainer. I was convinced that I had the art of getting out mastered when I went on my first road ride. About five miles into the ride, we had to stop at a red light that was at the bottom of a hill and on a slight turn. I had unclipped my right leg before coming to a stop, but because of the turn, my bike started leaning to the left. I could not get my left foot out before I made contact with the rider next to me. Once that happened, we both went down. By the next ride, though, getting in and out was second nature. I never think about it anymore, and I would never ride without clipless pedals again.
