 An Apple Valley man faces second degree murder charges tonight in connection with the deaths of two workers hit and killed last night on the Long Beach Freeway. Now those deaths sent shockwaves through the ranks of Caltrans workers today. Action News has a story live on the scene along the Hollywood Freeway with Patty Ecker. Patricia, this can only give us a small idea of what it would be like to be a freeway worker. We are a whole lane away from the racing traffic and Caltrans workers are only inches away from that traffic. Ralph Navarro thought a lot about the two freeway workers killed last night. He was nearly killed several years ago in much the same deadly way as he worked alongside the freeway. Southbound 405 Friendshaw and I got rear-ended by a drunk and I was standing in front of my pickup and the drunk hit my pickup and my pickup on me. Navarro's was injured but continues his freeway work. He said he was a bit more careful on the job today. Investigators say yesterday's deaths were caused by the lethal combination of alcohol and speed. The driver of this Ford Bronco was going at least 85 miles an hour when he plowed into the men who were laying out cones and warning signs according to the CHP. The driver's blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit. Kenny Autry of Apple Valley has been booked for second degree murder. On roadway jobs today, Caltrans workers said they did things more cautiously than usual. We'll use a little more extra backup trucks behind us to protect us or maybe we'll use an extra lookout person. Despite the danger, Caltrans workers stay on the job and insist the safety record is a good one. Since 1972, 50 Caltrans workers have been killed on the job. 27 killed by errant drivers, 23 in other accidents. In Northridge, a man is charged tonight with manslaughter and drunk driving in the freeway death of a Caltrans worker yesterday. This is the fifth highway worker to die in four months. But as our Frank Buckley says, there's no easy way to assure the safety of freeway workers. 55-year-old Callie Busser was killed when he was pinned against his Caltrans truck. Investigators say 42-year-old Scott Ellis was seen driving erratically on the Attaloke Valley freeway before the crash. Ellis' wife drove up on the scene. She would find out her husband was injured but would survive. Busser's wife would learn her husband was killed on the job. He becomes the fifth highway worker killed on Southland roads since April. In the last two decades, 91 workers have been killed in California. Highway workers are scared. They say the disregard for their safety comes with a disrespect for what they do. These workers shut down an on-ramp. Motorists let them know they didn't like it. You could hear them during our interviews. They get angry, they have power behind the wheel, and they take advantage of it. I mean, they'll try to get our attention on purpose. They'll say, why don't you do this at night? If we do it at night, why don't you do it at the daytime? What can you do? Can't satisfy, come forward. Well, see, did you hear that? The words you called us, now I have a new name. Caltrans is reviewing safety procedures on a case-by-case basis but has no plans to begin wholesale freeway closure. People have suggested closing the freeways and I've said with all those people out there, seven days a week, we'd have to close all the freeways literally all the time. We can't do that. The highway workers of California would like to remind you that a small orange cone is the only thing between them and you. Public service announcements urging motorists to give highway workers a break are airing for now. Caltrans says, indeed, cones are often the only protection workers have. The public is ultimately responsible for keeping the workers alive. Frank Buckley, Channel 9 News. BUSER is the fifth Caltrans worker killed in the last two months. Caltrans officials say they'll dedicate a regional office in Valencia in memory of BUSER. Good evening. Here's the latest at 5 o'clock on this Friday. They call it one of the most dangerous professions in the world and tonight there is new grim evidence of that. For the second time this year, a Caltrans worker has been killed on a Southland freeway while he was working. It happened this afternoon when a ripping truck slammed into a Caltrans truck as workers were clearing away dry grass there. Our Rick Romero is live with the newsman on the Arteja Freeway in Cerritos. We'll go out to him for the very latest on that situation. Rick. And it's a nasty, nasty mess. I think you can see much of it behind me. This is a Caltrans truck that is on an angle here to the 91 freeway. On it was a load of grass and weeds that have been pulled up by some of the Caltrans workers. Right now it's just viewed about the freeway as well as their orange bags. There's a pitchfork there. There are helmets from the Caltrans workers. As I take you this way, I'm going to show you a ripping truck. This is a truck that slammed into the Caltrans truck. This is carrying a load of plywood, roofing tiles and that sort of thing. What happened? Well with you right now is California Highway Patrolman Steve Beezer. Explain to me exactly what happened, sir. Yes, sir. Approximately 145 this afternoon. Caltrans truck was parked on the right shoulder, westbound 91, just west Bloomfield. We had two Caltrans employees and also one Caltrans work furlough employee loading hay into the back of a Caltrans truck. There was one Caltrans employee was in the bed of the truck and one of the furlough was actually loading the hay into the back of the truck and another Caltrans employee was in the cab of the truck. For unknown reasons, driver of this two axle truck drifted on the shoulder, continued down the shoulder and rear end of the Caltrans truck. At that point the Caltrans employee who was in the bed of the truck was thrown forward and subsequently pinned underneath the two axle truck and was pronounced dead at the scene. The other Caltrans employee who was in the cab of the truck sustained major injuries as well as the driver of the two axle truck. All right. Thank you very much, Sergeant. I appreciate that, Sergeant Beezer with California Highway Patrol. I have word on the two that were critically injured. Those two, of course, were life-flighted out of here to nearby hospitals. The driver of the roofing truck is a 31-year-old, Timothy Lambert, a cypress. He has a broken leg, facial and arm injuries and he's about to undergo surgery. The Caltrans employee who was critically injured, multiple head injuries, 57-year-old Ralph Goins of LA. I talked a moment ago to Caltrans employee here. He was talking about the job that they have here. That this is the 50th Caltrans employee that has died since 1972. That they work an extremely hazardous job. As you can see the freeway here, that many times 60 miles an hour people are going by flipping them off. They're yelling and screaming at them and they work yet just a few feet away from those cars. They're doing everything they can to keep drivers safe. They have no idea why this particular one happened. When they had cones out, they had a truck behind, they had enough safety precautions at least that was the way they felt. This is Rick Romero reporting live from the Arteza Freeway between Bloomfield and Norwalk Boulevard, back to you in the studio. Rick, that's just the question I was going to ask you is if there's any indication why the driver of that roofing truck was drifting off to the shoulder. And you're saying there was plenty of indication that Caltrans was there. Well, I talked to the Highway Patrol. They said that they will of course give sobriety tests and that sort of thing to find out just what kind of shape he was in as he was driving, perhaps he fell asleep at the wheel as well. Okay, Rick, thank you very much. People do travel day or night no matter what. They see the guys working there. They still do 65 miles an hour. A mile-long procession escorted a man to his final resting place today. Gerry Ocala was not a politician, not a movie star. He was a man trying to do his job. Arloes Patina reports Ocala was the fourth highway worker run down by an alleged drunk driver in just two months. He wasn't a world leader or a rich man when it comes to money, but today the bells rang out a sorrowful toll. Flowers lined the church entry and hundreds gathered to say goodbye because Gerry Ocala was a normal guy who died with some call a senseless death. He was just trying to keep the road safe for you and me. He was a Keltrans worker out on the highway. A truck driver now charged with drunken driving and vehicular manslaughter veered off the highway and pinned Ocala down. It killed him instantly. This morning he was taken to his resting place. His fiancée inconsolable, his daughters distraught, his identical twin brother needing strength to carry on. There were so many friends and co-workers in the motorcade, this time the freeway stopped for Gerry. His loved ones prayed. They prayed for his soul and for the road slaughter of highway workers to end. Gerry was the fourth highway worker killed in just two months. In all four cases the suspects are accused of drunk driving. The people out there who don't think about the pain they cause when they drink and drive. The drunk drivers don't think about the children left behind. The people who just don't think.