Million Mile Man Dave Zien Injured in Motorcycle Crash in Florida

Former Wisconsin State Senator Dave Zien was injured March 13th in a motorcycle crash on Interstate 10 near Marianna, Florida.  According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Zien tried to take evasive action to miss a SUV that lost control and overturned in front of him. It appears Zien was unable to avoid hitting the roof of the car and sustained serious injuries to his leg. He was flown by Air Heart Helicopter to Tallahassee Memorial Medical Center where surgeons amputated his injured leg just above the knee. The SUV driver was cited for failure to maintain lane and driving with a suspended license.

Besides be the Million Mile Man, Zien is known for championing motorcycle rights and for being an advocate for veteran's rights. While serving in the Wisconsin legislature, first as an Assemblyman and later as Speaker Pro Tem of the Senate, Zien authored every piece of legislation in Wisconsin concerning motorcycle issues. Some of these bills included Act 33 in 1997, which dealt with a remedy for motorcycle confiscations in Wisconsin.  He also authored Senate Bill 223 that reversed a de facto mandatory helmet law decision by the Wisconsin Supreme Court which allowed juries to reduce by 100% the damages from a head injury claim if a rider was not wearing a helmet.  Attorney Michael Hupy worked with ABATE of Wisconsin on this bill and was publicly thanked by the governor and given the pen he used to sign the bill into law. Zien also authored Senate Bill 528, "The Roadway Users Responsibility Act." SB528 allows motorcycles to proceed from a red light when the sensors do not detect a motorcycle and has a "right of way" component calling for enhanced penalties and education when drivers cause injuries to motorcyclists, bicyclists or pedestrians while infringing upon their right of way.

Michael Hupy, Jason Abraham, Dave Zien and Tony Pan
In 2009, Dave Zien completed one million miles on the same motorcycle, his 1991 FXR. On April 4, 2009, he rode into the lot of Hal's Harley-Davidson, New Berlin, Wisconsin, to the cheers of hundreds of supporters. Hupy and Abraham S.C. sponsored his attempt at this world record and Attorney Michael Hupy rode into Hal's on the back of the Million Mile Motorcycle while his partner, Jason Abraham rode next to Zien.   On April 6, 2009, Harley-Davidson Motor Company presented Zien with a brand new Road Glide in recognition of Zien's accomplishment of logging one million miles on a single motorcycle. That FXR is on display at the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum in Sturgis, South Dakota. The 2009 Road Glide is the bike Zien was riding when he was injured in Florida. The bike has over 230,000 miles on it and Zien was hoping to log one million miles on that bike also. It appears that won't happen but Zien is not planning on giving up riding.

In typical biker fashion, three things are most upsetting to Zien. First, he is concerned that his beloved Road Glide is a total loss. Second, he cannot locate his Crazy Horse commemorative belt buckle. That was a present to him from Hupy and Abraham S.C. investigator and long time friend, Tony Pan Sanfelipo. Tony gave Dave the buckle because Dave was best man at his wedding to Vicki Roberts on top of Crazy Horse monument. Dave has worn the buckle every day since June 26, 2002.  Last, Dave cannot locate his "colors" from the Lawmakers, a motorcycle organization founded by Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell. Both he and Tony are members of the Lawmakers.  In a phone conversation to Tony's wife Vicki, Dave talked about losing these three items but never mentioned his leg. If you're not a biker, you probably wouldn't understand.

back to top