I race a bit on DCs and they are pretty good to be honest with great visibility, few bends and few potholes, but like any road you are relying on the people in cars to be looking where they are going.
Some of the most dangerous roads are ‘fun’ B roads and small A roads where drivers pretend to be a race car driver.
I race the DCs mainly in Poole and in South Wales. The traffic does not feel scary to be honest, but they are pretty quiet roads with 99% considerate drivers. Once I raced near Cirencester and it was horrible, but I find riding anywhere near the M4 corridor on any road scary.
They are not on the busiest roads, but there is some truth that many testers like the fastest course possible. Many courses have been lost over the years because of traffic counts, its getting harder to find a course which does not exceed limits. Larger roads are used because they have good viability, they do not have traffic lights or pedestrians walking to get the papers etc.. I imagine many of the roads were not busy when the courses were originally devised. We actually have a really good sporting series so it is possible (WTTA hard riders) but the potholes alone can be a challenge, or you can lose a few places behind a tractor 😉