Thanks for posting about this interesting suggestion.
My instinct is to support Boardman against the DfT since I believe pedestrians have had a very raw deal since the invention of motor vehicles. In practice when driving in heavy traffic I quite often give a right of way to pedestrians waiting to cross where there's a central reservation to keep them safe, even when there is no marked crossing.
Three things make me nervous about the suggestion though. First is that paint wears out and Councils are lax with renewing it. Second is that at nights without beacons the crossing will often not be visible to drivers, especially when the road is wet. Third is that with no zig-zag lines, parking against the crossing, especially by vans, will obscure pedestrians trying to cross and put them at risk.
Perhaps it would be better to very widely publicise the law instead, that a pedestrian has the right of way once they've stepped onto a road. Far too few know this and ramming the message home might tame a few of the more aggressive drivers.
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