We have pedestrian walk timers here in Phoenix and they are very easy for drivers to see.
The situation described in the article happens when a driver is approaching a traffic light which is green but notices that there is only 1 or 2 seconds left on the walk count down and decides to stop. A driver behind, who may or may not have seen the count down isn't ready for a car to begin stopping as it approaches a light which is still green. Bang.
I think you've slightly misrepresented the second driver's intentions. The article says:
"...the guy behind, he sees the two or three seconds and thinks, oh, the guy in front of me is going to floor it too, I'll floor it and we'll both get through the intersection. Whereas the guy in front thinks, OK, I only have two or three seconds left, I'm going to slowdown."
So it's not that the driver in front sees the timer and stops during a green light, whilst the driver behind doesn't see the timer and isn't expecting to stop during a green.
More likely that both drivers see the timer and make conflicting decisions: the driver in front decides there isn't enough time and slows down; the driver behind decides there is enough time and speeds up, having assumed the driver in front would be doing the same.
However, your scenario is plausible too and just as problematic.
So the problem is not aggressive driving, but tentative driving? Wow.
Actually drivers have a duty to stop for vehicles ahead of them at any time. So the rear-ender, not the rear-ended, is at fault, even if the rear-ended was doing something dumb like looking at pedestrian signals.
The situation described in the article happens when a driver is approaching a traffic light which is green but notices that there is only 1 or 2 seconds left on the walk count down and decides to stop. A driver behind, who may or may not have seen the count down isn't ready for a car to begin stopping as it approaches a light which is still green. Bang.