so fluffy

I'm sure the evil intolerant mechanic guy wanted to remove them for some fake, made-up reasons like "you're gonna die if you ride with these".

I'm guessing the answer is "no, cos freedom" or something, but do you not have to get a road worthiness certification updated periodically in America?
- Most places annually through either smog or state inspection. Some states don't have any kind of state inspection though.
- "Why do I have to sign a waver every time I go in for an oil change?"
- No. And thank God. Too many crooked mechanics shops

Everyone should have to pass a basic automotive knowledge course before getting their driver's license.

That's not a thing where you live?
- At least where I live, the licensing test covers rules of the road, not automotive knowledge. I think this commenter was referring to some test covering very surface-level knowledge of vehicles, with a focus on ways to tell if a car is unasafe to drive.
Everyone should have a universal basic income!

In the long run, some renters wind up paying twice as much for their tires as they would have paid if they'd bought them outright.

Would only do that if you’re desperate. I’d bet 10:1, the tires in OP result from poverty.

PS: you’re not wrong!
- Or, alternatively, we should build cities where owning a car isn't a requirement to hold down a job, and keep piloting a two ton death machine as a privilege, not a right
- Jesus, at $20/mo you would pay for a full set of the (expensive) OEM tires on my car in less than a year. They're warrantied for 3 years of standard mileage, so even worse than double.
I got my license in Sweden and there are laws for when you must have summer tires and winter tires as well as how deep the pattern needs to be. This is all covered in the writing portion of the test. It's quite possible that someone driving with wheels like that might get their license suspended at the least.
- Yes it's illegal to drive on tires with worn out patterns. I thought it was the same everywhere in the civilized world.
For the driver licence in France there is questions like that:

how to recognize a worn tire

where to find the right tire pressure

check the oil level of the engine

check the brake liquid level ...
- People can't do this?
  
  Jesus christ I'm losing faith in the average capability of humanity
- Wow, trick questions on it too? Brakes are a pad, not a liquid
- In new Zealand, the only question is what the best Fast an Furious movie was.
This, plus mandatory retesting every 5 years. New traffic signal’s & infrastructure, aging drivers, changing eyesight, refresher learning, etc
It's in the driving course. They just only include two or three questions.
- In my province (Manitoba) there is zero basic vehicle knowledge provided in the Driver's Handbook which is where test questions are pulled from.

These are the same people who drive with paper-thin, or even fully rusted off, brake rotors. And then they yell at the mechanics for "upselling them" on brake maintenance.

I firmly believe that brakes should be the absolute last thing to fail on a car. The tires can rupture, the steering shatter, and the car snapped in two, but I must be able to bring the remaining wreckage to a stop.

Sure, whatever you say guy who definitely isn't a shady up-selling mechanic

How can something called a brake, break?

That obviously just makes it more brake
- I am both laughing my cock off and wanting to smash the downvote button in sheer rage because I can just see this being an actual conversation.
Meh, the whole thing needs maintenance.

Brakes won't do shit when all the tires are flat and you just lock up the wheels. Or when your tie rod end snaps and the car veers off the freeway faster than anyone can react to press the brakes.
And this is why I am so grateful for the yearly inspections for cars in my country. You still have idiots driving, but at least their vehicles will be somewhat safe.