They are vehicles... That was about a pothole / depression incident...

Basically that case was saying that when that woman was riding on the SHOULDER (NOT part of the roadway and NOT a designated bike lane) and hit that whatever and fell and died, her husband had no recourse to sue the county, because of it..

Sucked bad too! So basically, if you're not far right on the roadway and something happens, you can't sue because, basically they said the roadway shoulders of NJ are not "bike compatible" nor are they maintained in such a way as to allow riding on them... (Although they are "car compatible", because cars have "better tires"... --- I'm paraphrasing a bit, but that's the gist of it!) Oh and the shoulder is only to be used for emergency parking and the like..

Here is the statute about bicycles actually being vehicles...

39:4-14.1 Rights, duties of bicycle riders on roadways, exemptions.


16. a. Every person riding a bicycle upon a roadway shall be granted all of the rights and shall be subject to all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle by chapter four of Title 39 of the Revised Statutes and all supplements thereto except as to those provisions thereof which by their nature can have no application.
Regulations applicable to bicycles shall apply whenever a bicycle is operated upon any highway or upon any path set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles subject to those exceptions stated herein.