While I might be tempted to use the cracked linings on some old beater, I thought I would look at what New York State says for their required annual inspection. They are supposed to pull at least one wheel to check the brakes. Some places, like muffler shops or dealers, will pull every wheel and try to sell you a brake job even if it's not needed but I digress.
The item to inspect is on the left and failure reasons on the right. This is straight off the NYS government website.
https://dmv.ny.gov/forms/cr79.pdf
View attachment 688895
So, if this was my car, the linings would get changed before they got caught in an annual inspection. Kind of a PITA, but seeing what some people drive, an annual inspection does force some things to happen.
But, do I really think it hurts anything? I don't know... Probably not, but having seen bonded linings come off the shoes, and the fact that they are brakes and shouldn't be compromised, I'd come down on the conservative side and replace them. The rear brakes on my 300L were cracked and I didn't think much about them, I just changed them so no worries.
And here's a guy making new brakes. These will be brought across the border through Mexico in the back packs of some "undocumented immigrants" and then through a system of dealers and finally sold as NOS on eBay.
