Toward the top of the code is a todo list. Check item 7 in the list :).

I never use <br> when writing PM nodes so I guess I ignored it as a possibility. I find that between code tags and paragraphs I don't find much use for blocks of text that may be wrapped (like paragraphs), but which are single spaced (like code blocks).

For myself I prefer the current behaviour, but a configuration option (the first) could be added to control it.