I must admit that when I'm thinking about the qualities of wheels, braking performance doesn't even enter my mind. But I won't criticize someone for thinking about safety.
I've never used disk or drum brakes on a bicycle. Almost all the bikes I've ridden were 1970's or 80's "10-speed" road bikes with caliper brakes or 20" bmx bikes with coaster or caliper brakes. And a few "newer" (1990's) bikes with cantilever brakes.
Those old Schwinn 10-speeds had chromed steel rims, caliper brakes, and brake pads 1 inch wide and 1/4 inch tall. Mediocre stopping when dry - no stopping when wet.
Cantilever brakes and aluminum rim surfaces perform so much better. Still not great when wet. Cantilever design applies a lot of pressure to pads, and if you ride a lot in dirty, gritty environment and don't keep things clean, it can erode an aluminum rim's sidewall.
Calipers "burn quickly"? Even if you replaced pads every year what would that cost - about as much as one tire?
I never had a crash that better brakes would have prevented.
