We wear YakTrax and Get-a-Grip ice crampons all the time when it's slippery and icey out and we are walking....it just makes sense. Walking on icy/slushy asphalt roads and cement sidewalks seems to be more slippery than walking on the same ice and slush over rough natural surfaces like grass or trails.
My husband was very resistant about putting them on, but last month a friend of ours slipped on the icy sidewalk in town and broke both his hip and his wrist. He's been in the hospital and in rehab now for weeks.
After that my husband has been very good about putting on the trax or grip-pin thingys. Why not be safer?