I've been a "roadie" in north central Florida since the early 1980's. Before that I roamed the rural roads around Champaign, IL. I've known a number of fellow cyclists that have been killed on the road. I've known lots more that have been hit and seriously injured. It is dangerous out there and not only in Florida. I also rode in the Austin, Texas area in the summer of 1982. It was the same there as well. Ditto for Yellow Springs, OH in the summer of 1988 and Ithaca, NY, for the summer of 1985.
Having said that I find that I find the road to be MUCH safer now than it was 25 years ago. Back then it was not only before Lance, it was before Greg Lemond. Back then whenever I rode out in the country either alone or with a group it was expected to have some sort of ugly encounter with a person driving a motorized vehicle. Now I find it to be a rare occurrence. Now I find people usually giving me a thumbs up, instead of the middle finger. For this I thank the media machine that has promoted Lance to the US masses.
That is not to say that there aren't motorized vehicle drivers out there that will f*ck with you. They are still around. It's just that there are a whole lot less of them than there used to be.