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From my perspective hand clutches are not especially dangerous. It's fairly difficult to put a hand clutched tractor into motion by accidentally bumping the clutch lever. They generally take significant pressure on the lever to get the tractor to begin to move, and even more effort to get the lever to "snap over" and stay engaged. But I do not mean to say a hand clutch is "safe". A hand clutch is very dangerous when backing into close quarters like a low doorway, when backing under overhanging branches, etc. And if you are used to a foot clutch, stopping a hand clutched tractor in a sudden emergency can be a terrifying experience! Not sure why hand clutches were offered on tractors as long as they were. Perhaps a carryover from the earliest tractors? Keep in mind nearly all tractors were hand clutched through the mid 20's. Minnie Mo stayed with hand clutches through the early 50's, and JD until 1960. So back in the day there had to have been a LOT of farmers used to the hand clutch and who preferred it over the foot pedal clutch. Perhaps there's other reasons as well - I don't know...
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