When Andrea Walski heard about the crash on Interstate 90 in southeastern Minnesota on Aug. 31, 2000, she figured her husband, State Patrol Cpl. Ted Foss, would be late for dinner that night.

But Foss, 35, never came home. He was on the shoulder of the freeway, conducting a traffic stop near Winona, Minn., when he was struck by a semitrailer truck and killed. He left behind two small children.

To mark the 20th anniversary of the tragic event, the Department of Public Safety on Monday unveiled a sign not far from the crash site on I-90 in memory of the fallen trooper who worked for the patrol for 15 years — and whose death resulted in the state's Move Over Law.

The law requires drivers who come upon the flashing lights of stopped emergency vehicles and maintenance and utility vehicles to move over one full lane when passing, or to slow down significantly if moving over isn't possible.

"It's a very simple thing to do, a respectful thing to do, to slow down and move over," said Walski, who spoke publicly about Foss' death for the first time in an interview with the Star Tribune.

Foss had met a trooper as a child and knew he wanted to follow in the trooper's footsteps, Walski said. He graduated near the top of his patrol class and chose to work in southeastern Minnesota to be near his father, who was being treated for lung cancer at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

A sign honoring state trooper Ted Foss was installed Monday on Interstate 90 south of Winona, Minn., near the crash site.

"He liked the detail-oriented nature of the job, particularly investigating crashes," Walski said. "He loved to help people."

After Foss died, Walski said she got a card from a man who her husband had helped after his vehicle broke down. The man, who said he had many encounters with officers, wrote that "it was so refreshing to be respected by law enforcement," she recalled.

Walski, who was deputy police chief in Winona at the time of Foss' death, said she was enraged after learning her husband had been killed when a FedEx truck slammed into his squad car, its lights flashing. Foss had stopped to talk to a woman who allegedly had been speeding.

She said she has since forgiven the truck driver but still doesn't know exactly how the crash happened, whether the driver had been blinded by the sun or had a medical incident. Drugs or alcohol were not factors in the accident, the State Patrol found.

The driver, a Rochester man, was later charged with eight misdemeanor counts, including reckless and inattentive driving. He told officers he was checking his trailer while moving to the right lane and didn't see Foss until just before the crash.

Lots of good came out of the accident in the years following, Walski said. The state renamed that stretch of I-90 as the Theodore "Ted" Foss Memorial Highway. Scholarships in his name at Alexandria Community and Technical College and Winona State University have helped students pursue careers in law enforcement.

Most importantly, the Legislature in 2001 passed the Ted Foss Move Over Law, which is now law in all 50 states. The State Patrol has cited more than 9,300 motorists since 2016 for not moving over, including 789 so far this year. Fines can exceed $100.

"The road is our office, and giving us a safe space to work protects us and other drivers from the dangers of a crash," said Col. Matt Langer, State Patrol chief.

On Monday, law enforcement officers statewide were expected to conduct extra enforcement.

The Move Over Law "has protected so many people," Walski said. "I've seen a lot more people following the law and I am overjoyed."

Tim Harlow • 612-673-7768