Newton could soon join other Massachusetts municipalities hoping to put the brakes on speeding drivers with lower speed limits on some roads.

The proposal, drafted by the City Council’s president, Scott Lennon, and Councilor at Large Ted Hess-Mahan, would lower the default speed limitfrom 30 to 25 miles per hour.

Hess-Mahan said the council will vote on the measure Tuesday. He pointed to research showing that speed directly contributes to more crash fatalities and serious injuries. Slowing drivers down, he said, would mean safer roads.

“You can’t just put a price on that,’’ Hess-Mahan said.

If the City Council approves the change, it would affect virtually the entire city, reducing speeds on roads where there isn’t already a marked limit, said Nicole Freedman, director of transportation.

The proposal follows similar measures that have been put in place in Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville. Other cities and towns are contemplating similar rules, including Arlington and Melrose, according to local officials.

“It’s awesome — if all the surrounding cities and Boston do it, it would have tremendous safety effects,’’ Freedman said.

Councilor at Large Allan L. Ciccone Jr. said Newton’s speed-limit proposal was approved by the City Council’s public safety and transportation committee earlier this month.

Ciccone, who leads the committee, said residents frequently complain about speeding cars cutting through neighborhoods to avoid traffic, but police can be in only so many places at once to enforce speed limits.

“I think it will be a positive thing — it will slow the vehicles down,’’ said Ciccone, who anticipates the measure will go before the full City Council in about a month.

Safety concerns are driving an enhancement project in West Newton, which officials say is one of the worst areas in the city for pedestrian and vehicle crashes.

As part of a 2016 municipal modernization bill, cities and towns can set a speed limit of 25 miles per hour in thickly settled areas or business districts, though not on state highways.

In 2014, a study by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health predicted that lowering the default speed limit on local roads from 30 to 25 miles per hour could prevent about 18 fatalities and 1,200 serious injuries each year in Massachusetts — as well as save about $62 million ­annually.

John Hilliard can be reached at john.hilliard@globe.com.