Nah. There are places where tourists regularly go and those places are generally safe, in fact I'd say they're safer than most big cities in North America. Even in Honduras this is true. MS13 or 18th street won't fuck with you in those places. You'll see other travelers and plenty of European backpackers. Restaurants will have Tripadvisor reviews and hostels will be fun. Of course if you wander away from those areas, especially at night, yeah it is risky. Tens of thousands of backpackers are in Central America all the time going from hostel to hostel and seeing all the attractions and the locals in all those places have an interest in protecting that market.
In Livingston, Guatemala, I stayed at a hostel called iguanas where there was a big nudist party of 20somethings from all over Europe. The locals speak English and Garifuna and have plenty of weed. I heard a story there that some ex-American deportee used a knife to rob a German tourist and the town banded together to get the guy's belongings back to him and that they killed the guy and the cops didn't do anything to stop it. Whether that story is true or not, it is retold often enough that it is part of that local culture.
Riding the buses all over the country seemed very safe as well although the military guys who sometimes ride it are intimidating. I think it is intentional, part of their disciplined aura, they're instructed to come off as overly professional in that way.