Bob Simon’s widow sues driver, car service after fatal crash

NEW YORK — The driver of a car that crashed and killed veteran CBS News correspondent Bob Simon had two speeding convictions and his driver’s license suspended nine times, according to a lawsuit by Simon’s widow made public on Monday.

Simon, 73, was a passenger in a 2010 Lincoln sedan that slammed into a Mercedes Benz and then hit metal lane barriers on Manhattan’s West Side on Feb. 11.

Francoise Simon’s lawsuit claims that driver Reshad Fedahi, his employers, Skyline Credit Ride, and its contractor Travez Transportation acted negligently and recklessly leading up to the crash.

Skyline and Travez had fired and re-hired Fedahi without providing him training or driving tests and ignored multiple customer complaints about Fedahi, according to the complaint, filed in state Supreme Court.

The companies also knew or should have known that Fedahi had two traffic convictions for speeding and had his New York state drivers license suspended nine times, it said.

A spokeswoman with Skyline declined to comment on the lawsuit. Travez and Fedahi could not immediately be reached.

Simon suffered injuries to his head and torso and was pronounced dead on arrival at a nearby hospital.

As a result of the crash, “Simon suffered conscious pain and suffering, fear of impending death,” according to the complaint.

Francoise is also suing the owners of the second vehicle involved in the crash.

Simon’s decades-long career included covering major overseas conflicts and surviving Iraqi prison.

He earned 27 Emmy awards for reporting during his career, and won electronic journalism’s highest honor, the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award, for the piece “The Shame of Srebrenica,” a “60 Minutes II” report on genocide during the Bosnian War.

He and his wife had one child, television producer Tanya Simon.