I'm not really in a position to deprecate anything. Most people I see round town just run across blithely between the cars, usually while doing something else (texting, talking, phoning, smoking, drinking coffee, etc), occasionally stopping to shout abuse at cyclists. (As far as I can tell "normal behaviour" in most places is to behave like a selfish & antisocial arsehole wherever possible.)

Personally, I press the button and wait for the lights to change before crossing, unless there is really no traffic approaching. But most people I talk to seem to think this is completely stupid. *shrug*