Driver in Caltrans Fatality to Be Charged : Freeways: Officials say they will charge the motorist with driving under the influence. His wife says he was taking a prescription drug for pain.

A driver who struck and killed a Caltrans worker along the Antelope Valley Freeway was apparently under the influence of prescription drugs, and authorities plan to seek charges of felony driving under the influence and manslaughter with gross negligence, they said Thursday.

At least six witnesses told authorities that Scott Ellis III, 42, of Palmdale, was weaving across several lanes of freeway traffic and driving only 25 to 45 m.p.h. even in the passing lane before the accident Wednesday, said California Highway Patrol Officer Mike Nemback.

Ellis was in Northridge Hospital Medical Center under police guard Thursday and was to be moved to an open hospital bed in the county jail wing at County-USC Medical Center as soon as one becomes available. He then will be booked and later arraigned, Nemback said. Results of drug and alcohol tests are pending.

Also on Thursday, Caltrans officials maintained that additional safety measures would not have prevented Callie Buser’s death. They said they will continue to do most roadwork on California freeways without shutting them down.

“In this case, nothing short of an act of God could have protected him,” said Caltrans spokesman George Hartwell in Sacramento. “There has been no discussion about closing freeways for minor repairs.”

State Department of Transportation officials said Wednesday that because five Southern California highway workers had been killed in the last three months, they were considering freeway closings even for some minor repairs. But Hartwell said closing freeways to protect workers often creates dangerous traffic backups and accidents.

Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar) also said closing freeways would pose too great an imposition on motorists.

“You can’t just shut down the freeways,” said Katz, chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee. “It just doesn’t make sense.”

But State Sen. Quentin L. Kopp, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, said he would press for better safety precautions. That includes seeking more freeway closures, he said, “if it comes to saving lives.”

“Safety is paramount,” Kopp said. “I respect Richard’s concerns, but these injuries and deaths are just out of proportion. Caltrans workers are overexposed.”

For the past year, Caltrans has been studying how to better protect workers, and has begun forming an official policy in which shutting down freeways while work is being done is given first consideration over partial closures and other precautions. The study will not be completed until October at the earliest.

In the meantime, Caltrans spokeswoman Margie Tiritilli said the department will continue to close freeways for bridge work and other significant repairs--most often at night or during times of light traffic. But she said it remains unlikely that Caltrans will close freeways for minor repairs.

Buser, 55, of Canoga Park, was painting surveying symbols on the shoulder of the freeway south of the Soledad Canyon Road overpass when he was hit shortly after 1 p.m., authorities said. Ellis apparently strayed into the dirt center strip, lost control and skidded as he tried to accelerate out of the dirt. The truck struck Buser, dragging him until it struck a Caltrans truck.

Authorities said Ellis’ wife was driving southbound on the freeway an hour after the collision when she noticed her husband’s damaged pickup truck on the northbound shoulder north of Acton. She told officers that her husband had been taking prescription Tylenol 4 tablets, which contain the narcotic codeine, for chronic back pain, officials said.