The rule is great if the cars all well matched and the tree is super close but anything over a half a second and you can see the red light and just leave later.
Advantage still goes to the faster car.
Not correct. If the slower car leaves too early, the red does not come on untill the faster car leaves. This is so the computer can determine which car leaves the greater amount too early.
I have not run it, yet, but I like the idea.