• I THINK Denise Julien needs to spend more time studying what the new Highway Code actually says about pedestrians, (The code, Mr Toad! June 21).

Page 5 explains the hierarchy of road users.

Rule H1 concludes: “None of this detracts from the responsibility of ALL road users, including pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders, to have regard for their own and other road users’ safety.”

Rule H2 for drivers, motorcyclists, horse-drawn vehicles, horse riders and cyclists states: “At a junction you should give way to pedestrians crossing or waiting to cross a road into which or from which you are turning.

“You MUST give way to pedestrians on a zebra crossing and to pedestrians and cyclists on a parallel crossing.”

And this is followed by 11 pages of instructions for pedestrians.

Rule 8, “At a junction”, states: “When crossing or waiting to cross the road other traffic should give way…

“If you have started crossing… you have priority and they should give way”.

Rule 18 states: “You MUST NOT loiter on any type of crossing.”

Some of the rules are legal requirements and breaking them is a criminal offence. These are identified by use of the words must/must not.

But many of the rules are advisory, identifiable by the use of the words should/should not, do/do not.

These should be followed as far as possible but there are occasions when it may be safer to ignore them.

Pedestrians are not entitled to jay-walk.

Our roads are not playgrounds where everyone except motorists can do whatever they like.

Motorists are entitled to go about their business without having to dodge other road users behaving in a thoughtless manner.

M HALL, N19