I also like having my dogs heel beside me without a leash in the way... Fozzie's heel is IMPECCABLE off-leash, even though he still occasionally pulls on leash until I remind him that it will get him nowhere. He has pretty much no herding/prey drive at all, he will not approach an on-leash dog period, and he loves all people. I often let the leash/long line drag while practicing heeling in a risky area, but without that leash, you have NO back-up plan. It just seems haughty and silly. And stressful, so stressful. I think I would have a heart attack with my dogs off-leash near a road, even if it was completely deserted.
I was thinking about this, and I do think there are situations where off-leash near a road is somewhat safe and understandable. Where we go for Obedience, it's a very large park, downtown, with a neighborhood street around it. However, the only time the dogs are off-leash (and even then most dogs have leashes dragging) is when they are in down-stays. And only when the dogs are past intermediate level. This girl was at a photoshoot that they had a few weeks ago, for the website, and she brought her adolescent dog. Afterwards, our dogs were meeting and greeting, but she let her dog do whatever leash-free. We were 100+ yards from the street, but in just a few seconds, her dog went from playing with ours to racing toward the road, crossing it, and scarfing down a bunch of who-knows-what in a trashcan before his owner could even react. The trainer was running over there before she was. He could have easily been hit by a car, even though the speed limit is 25, if not eaten something dangerous in the trash can.