A motor brake can be coupled to the rotatable motor drive shaft. The brake includes a shaft-mountable support that rotates uniformly with the drive shaft. One or more brake shoes, which can include flyweights or the like, are hingedly mounted to the support and include brake pads. A centripetal force is applied to the brake shoes using one or more springs or other biasing means that bias the brake pads against a braking surface when rotation of the shaft is below a minimum rotational velocity. The brake pads disengage from the braking surface when shaft rotation exceeds the minimum rotational velocity. The centrifugal force induced and applied to the brake shoes and brake pads by rotation of the motor drive shaft overcomes the biasing force to disengage the brake pads from the braking surface, which may be the housing of a motor to which the brake is affixed.
