State lawmakers have approved new criminal penalties for motorists whose careless driving causes injury or death of a construction worker on a road or highway project.

The State Senate passed the legislation creating new crimes of vehicular manslaughter and vehicular assault in an active work zone.

Those new criminal designations will also come with tougher penalties.

The Senate also passed bills related to road safety, including one creating a commission to study teen driving safety and ways the state could reduce teen drunken driving and distracted driving.

Those bills will now move on to the Assembly for consideration.