Motorists who don’t “Give ’em a Brake” could find themselves broke and behind bars if they are responsible for injuring or killing a construction worker while traveling Michigan roads.

The state Senate on Tuesday approved a set of bills concerning construction worker safety.

“We’re asking these men and women to make our road safe and to do that they are putting their lives at stake,” said Sen. Bill Bullard Jr., R-Highland, who sponsored the package. “They shouldn’t have to do that.”

More than 2,000 injuries and 7,000 car accidents occur in Michigan construction zones each year, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation.

Under the bills approved by the Senate, a person who kills a construction worker in a construction zone could be charged with a felony punishable by up to $7,500 in fines and up to 15 years in prison.

If the driver was drunk, he or she could face up to 20 years behind bars.

Injuring a construction worker could be a misdemeanor offense with penalties of up to $2,500 in fines and up to one year in jail.

In both cases, the driver would have to be found guilty of a traffic violation to be punished.

The bills will now be sent to the state House for consideration.

MDOT officials were pleased to hear of the bills’ passage through the Senate and said any effort to improve their workers’ safety is welcome.

“What else can you do to get people to pay attention and slow down; we’ve already doubled the traffic fines in construction zones,” said Ari Adler, MDOT communications director. “We’re happy to have anything done that will raise awareness.”

Adler said three road workers were injured while on duty near Niles on Monday. Two were treated and released while the third is still being hospitalized.

“When people see a deer in the road they automatically slow down to see what the deer is going to do next, but they don’t do that when they approach a work zone,” Adler said. “What can we do to get people to place the same value on a worker’s life as they do for an animal’s?”

In addition to supporting safety laws, MDOT provides nearly $500,000 to state police to help increase patrols in construction zones and spends more than $200,000 advertising its “Give ’em a Brake” safety campaign.

“It seems that awareness is getting raised,” Adler said. “And that’s what is important when you get right down to it.”