Late last month, the cycling press picked up a story readymade for clicky headlines: A new study out of the University of Bologna apparently showed that an Italian law requiring high-visibility clothing for some cyclists had no effect on crash rates. (“Hi-vis clothing has 'little to no impact' on crashes,” read an early headline on BikeBiz.)

It came on the heels of another study out of the UK last fall, which found that so-called “visibility aids” not only failed to reduce the risk of cycling collisions, but were actually associated with an increased crash risk.