Whenever am out of the house, I definitely use headphones connected to my phone or pod while listening to music. There's something about headphones that brings out the best in music. Certain sounds and inner voices of a song that usually isn't heard on loud speakers can be heard using earphones. This is probably the main reason why I love using headphones. I got so used to it that it literally became a habit, a habit that I later realized isn't good, especially when walking along the streets.
I once had an incident that almost took my life because of the habit of always using headphones whenever am out walking. It happened one morning on my way to work. The cab dropped me a few blocks away from my office building due to traffic jam. While walking along the street, I was so caught up listening to music that I forgot I was crossing an intersection. I failed to look both ways and walked right in front of a speeding vehicle. People around were screaming at me and the car honked severally but I didn't hear a thing because of the headphones. A selfless passer by ran towards me and pulled me away. A second later would have been late for me. From that day on, I stopped the habit of using headphones oftenly while walking the streets.
Using headphones as simple as it is might seem harmless, but in some cases like mine above, It can lead to a mishap. Asides my experience, i've also come to understand that constant use of headphones can cause a certain degree of health risk to the ear. I have a friend who's ears are partially damaged due to regular use of headphones on loud volumes. The probability of such happening to someone is very low, but it's better to prevent than sort for a solution if it happens.