Nobody pretended they're a car. But yes, people on/in vehicles use the road that's dedicated to vehicle traffic instead of narrow sidewalks where they harass pedestrians and little kids.

I don't know if the laws are even formally different on these streets, but it kind of communicates to everyone what they should expect and how they should plan their trips (though they do have these concrete bollard-looking things in the intersections that narrow them to one lane, presumably to slow down car traffic).

IME it just makes it easier for cars and bikes to stay out of each others' way, which I think they both basically want.