Originally Posted by
jputnam
There's been significant research into clothing conspicuity, not for cyclists but for workplace safety. Motorists are more likely to avoid hitting roadside workers wearing approved hi-viz colors. That's why those colors are no longer just suggestions for roadside workers, they're mandatory, to save lives and millions of dollars in workers comp claims. White can get lost too easily against bright haze, clouds, or white trucks.
Reminds me of the vest the manager at a state park in PA lent me when I wanted to go hiking there, not realising it was hunting season, and I was wearing a brown top. The thing was fluoro yellow at the top, fluoro orange at the bottom, with reflective piping. I must get me one of those for cycling in, anyone who claimed not to have seen it could reasonably be asked if they could see anything at all.
Certainly for the duration of my walk in the woods I was as confident as it was possible to me that there was no way I was going to be mistaken for a deer.