Car has two kinds of brakes at the wheels: drums or disc. Generally a car has disc brakes at the front wheels and drum brakes with rear wheels. The drum attaches to the inside of the wheel. When braking, curved brake shoes are forced against the inside of the rotating drum. The disc also rotates with the wheel. Flat shoes called the disc brake pads nearly touch the two sides of the disc. Braking action forces the pads against the rotating disc.

Many vehicles have an electronic antilock brake system (ABS). It prevents the wheel from locking during braking.