Far more cyclists have been hit by stupid motorists than you'd imagine. I've been hit. Most of the cyclists I know have either been hit or been run off the road by reckless drivers. So don't pretend that it's rare or uncommon. It isn't. And don't pretend that whenever it happens, it's automatically the cyclists fault for being on a public road. It isn't.
By way of analogy:
Far more women have been abused by men than you imagine. Most of the women I know have either been raped or sexually abused by brutal men. So don't pretend that it's rare or uncommon. It isn't.
Therefore, men are brutal, vicious uncaring jerks?
Sorry, does not compute. Every driver I know has also had encounters with terribly rude, reckless, dangerous drivers. I imagine the average serious cyclist shares the road with somewhere between dozens and hundreds of cars on daily to weekly basis. You're gonna run into one or two asshats per every hundred to every thousand or so, depending on demographics and geography. This is hardly an indictment of drivers. Of cyclists.
It pretty much a description of life.
I suppose rape and sexual abuse isn't particularly uncommon, either. I don't pretend that it is. But do most men perpetrate such? In my experience, no, not by a long shot. I could be wrong though, since I'm not a woman and thus not a target for such behavior. I realize that people who not on the receiving end of any given behavior tend not to notice how or how common the behavior might be.
You're right, though. It's a proportional thing. Back when I first started cycling, I did my best to hug the right hand edge of the pavement, staying as far out of the lane of traffic as I could. My thinking was that I should give the motorists as wide a berth as possible. Back then, fully 3 out of 4 drivers passed me dangerously. That, by any definition, satisfies the statement "most drivers don't fully respect the danger of their vehicles".
I've since learned to ride more assertively. If I'm clearly inside the lane of traffic, most motorists realize that they can't squeeze past me without changing lanes. Now it's only 1 in 4 who drive dangerously. Most still fail to respect the danger they pose, and are driving safer only because that's the only realistic choice I've left them short of rear-ending me.
Gunsmith is right. Most drivers don't fully respect the killing potential inherent in their vehicles. If you deign to use the public roads on a bicycle, you will surely experience the same thing. Most drivers treat the roads as their own personal playgrounds, without regard for all of the other users of the road.