Bob Simon, '60 Minutes' correspondent, killed in crash

[ariesgem]

Source: NY Daily News

Bob Simon, a correspondent for "60 Minutes," was killed when the livery cab he was a passenger in crashed on the West Side Highway on Wednesday night, a police source said.

The 73-year-old reporter was a passenger in the livery cab traveling south on 12th Ave. at W. 30 St. when it the car rear-ended a Mercedes-Benz driven by a 23-year-old man and then slammed into a median.

Both the driver and Simon had to be cut out of the car, police said.



Read more: http://m.nydailynews.com/new-york/bob-simon-60-minutes-correspondent-killed-crash-article-1.2111975?utm_content=bufferf79d6&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=NYDN+Facebook

[misterhighwasted]

1. tragedy. RIP Mr Simon

[PoliticAverse]

2. CBS News announcement...

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cbs-news-correspondent-bob-simon-1941-2015/

[underpants]

3. Wow

RIP

[NutmegYankee]

4. Scott Pelley just gave a special update with obvious red eyes.

I'm sure they are all in shock and grief.

[840high]

6. I saw that. So sad.

[Archae]

5. Aw crap.

He was one of those on "60 Minutes" I liked seeing.

[Neurotica]

7. So sad. I've always enjoyed his reporting. n/t

[CreekDog]

8. WTF was that driver doing besides speeding and driving like a madman?

he's obviously going far, far too fast for that road, too fast for traffic and too fast to control the vehicle he is driving.

the livery driver should probably not be driving passengers or even himself at all if this is how he drives.

and just a reminder when in cabs and livery vehicles, wear your seatbelt, even if you're in the backseat.



great reporter. RIP.

[Hoppy]

10. They were on the West Side Highway.

Its speed limit is 40 or 45.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

11. oh. reading the OP, it sounded like it was the other way around.

Edit: went to read article. Mr. Simon's driver rear ended the Mercedes.

[Hoppy]

12. Sorry, I was wrong -- confused by a typo in the o.p.

Simon's driver rear eneded the Mercedes. The only way Simon's driver was not at fault would be if he was having a heart attack behind the wheel. The car's owner would still be liable.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

13. yeah, the typo confused me too.

[amuse bouche]

14. "The only way Simon's driver was not at fault would be if he was having a heart attack behind

the wheel'

I read that very well could have happened. Very sad

[CreekDog]

15. nope, it's 35 in that stretch

and obviously based on the damage to the car, the fact that he hit someone so hard from behind then bounced off, he was going far too fast to maintain control on that road.

the driver was reckless.

[rjsquirrel]

26. You're wrong. It's 35

The West Side Highway (or 12th Ave, or West Street) runs the entire length of Manhattan's west side. It has various speed limits ranging as high as 50. But in midtown it is 35mph.

The driver is wholly and completely at fault here. Turns out he is a mentally unstable guy with one dead arm from a prior suicide attempt, lives in a homeless shelter, and had *9* prior license suspensions. There were numerous prior complaints about his safety practices, including even from fellow drivers.

The car service company that employed him basically put a gun to Bob Simon's head the minute he got in the car. They deserve to be prosecuted and certainly sued into non-existence. The driver deserves to go to jail, where he will have three squares and a bed, for a long time. But it's the company that employed him that needs to be held truly to account. How many other car service drivers out there are like this guy, a basic, rolling menace to society? RIP Bob Simon, a great journalist. What a stupid way for him to die after all he's been through.

But as for speed limits, it's 35 in midtown on the WSH, and the lights are timed so there is no point to going any faster than that. You won't arrive sooner. This guy apparently jammed on the gas instead of the brakes after he sideswiped the Mercedes. But from the look of things I'd say he was doing 60. A Lincoln town car is a damn big piece of steel to crumple like that.

If you ever find yourself in a NYC taxi or black car, two things. 1) Put on your seat belt. No matter how short the trip or how heavy the traffic, it could save your life. 2) If your driver is speeding it is entirely within your rights as a passenger to ask him to slow down, and to ask to be let out of the car if you are uncomfortable with the driving, without paying the fare. Same with cell phone, texting, etc. Tell them to stop, now, and pay attention and drive the speed limit. You don't have to accept that shit.

I hope this driver never gets behind the wheel again. He could have killed many times. Bob Simon drew the unlucky card. But this guy was going to kill someone eventually. The CEO of his employer needs to face charges.

[INdemo]

21. Speeding and driving like a mad man

There should be charges filed against the driver..

[Spitfire of ATJ]

9. The old guard isn't going to be around to tell the sycophant stenographers they're doing it wrong.

[avaistheone1]

18. Such a terrible loss.

RIP Bob Simon

[closeupready]

22. While I didn't particularly agree with Simon's perspective on everything, I do agree

that he wore the Big Boy pants among 60 Minutes staffers, and his death is a huge loss for a news magazine which has dimmed in brilliance over the last 20 years.

[C Moon]

16. RIP

[MissDeeds]

17. So sad to hear this

Bob Simon was a great journalist.

[Deuce]

19. Very sad...he will be missed.

[Faygo Kid]

20. That voice - I hear it. RIP, Bob.

He was magnificent, and underrated.

[DarthDem]

23. Aw, No; So Sad

I used to watch the nightly news shows on some or all of the networks a long time ago, before the cable news (or "news," like Faux) channels sprouted everywhere. Bob Simon always, always struck me as a good man and a very ethical and shrewd, top-shelf journalist.

This is sad. RIP.

And yes, I was in a cab in another big city (not NYC) recently and wondered to myself why I wasn't wearing my seatbelt. Now I will, every time, in Bob Simon's memory.

[proverbialwisdom]

24. More.

http://nypost.com/2015/02/12/bob-simons-driver-likely-hit-gas-instead-of-brake/

By Larry Celona, Georgett Roberts and Jamie Schram
February 12, 2015 | 3:15pm

...He (Fedah) started working as a black-car driver for Skyline Credit Ride only in October 2014. Skyline, based in Long Island City, Queens, has had a contract with CBS for more than 30 years.

<>

Sources said Fedahi lost the use of his left arm after he jumped from a Brooklyn building in a suicide attempt about a decade ago.

<>

Another driver at Skyline said Fedahi should never have been on the road — and that he was fired after customers complained about his driving, only to be rehired by a new manager.

“The management changed. He was let go by the old management because passengers were complaining that he couldn’t lift bags and they didn’t want to be in a car with a driver with only one hand,” the driver said.

<>

[LiberalElite]

25. I wonder if the NYS DMV knew about his disabilty -

http://dmv.ny.gov/driver-license/license-restrictions-medical-conditions