Wisconsin has more people in the Sturgis Motorcycle Hall of Fame than any other state. Freedom Fighters include Tony Pan, Wayne Curtin, Sue Menard, Gov. Tommy Thompson, Sen. Dave Zien, Buck Kittredge, Gary Wetzel and Kirk “Hardtail” Willard. On August 12, 2020, Vicki Roberts Sanfelipo joined this prestigious group of Wisconsinites. She’s been a member of ABATE of Wisconsin since 1986 and became a Life Member in 1993. She served as Products person in Region 4A in 1994 and Regional Rep in 1995. In 1996, she started a long career as the only female Road Guard for Tommy Thompson’s Governor’s Ride. That same year she founded Accident Scene Management, Inc., a non-profit organization to teach roadside medical assistance to the injured.
She gave up her good paying job as an RN in the surgical department at Waukesha Hospital to devote herself full-time as the volunteer director of Accident Scene Management for the last 24 years. Her dedication and recognition are heralded in four books written about women in motorcycling as well as being a keynote speaker at conferences and safety seminars for over 30 years. Besides Accident Scene Management (ASM), which has instructors throughout the world, she co-founded Women in Motion, an all-female road guard corps, which conducted group rides to benefit ASM. She also co-founded Diamond Posse, another all-female group that rode in support of our veterans, raising money for the Center for the Intrepid and the purchase of a companion dog for a wounded veteran. In 2010 she co-founded Road Guardians, an organization dedicated to furthering the education of motorcyclists in matters of safety.
Her 34-year membership in ABATE is a testament to her dedication to freedom of the road. Several years ago, she was nominated to be inducted in the Hall of Fame as a freedom fighter, but she declined, saying, “It would be a disservice to the many freedom fighters in the country who have done so much more than I in our fight for freedom.” Well, she was finally recognized this year on her own merits as a truly inspirational and giving person as she was inducted into the Sturgis Motorcycle Hall of Fame for her work in Accident Scene Management and more. Many ABATE members were on hand at the induction to witness Wisconsin history being written again as she joined the class of 2020 and the company of fellow Wisconsinites who came before her.