Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Bob Simon's Livery Cab Driver Works With "Messed-Up Arm" That "Doesn't Move At All"
By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 13, 2015
Modified Feb 13, 2015
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
RLJR News
By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 13, 2015
Modified Feb 13, 2015
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The livery cab driver who crashed his Lincoln Town Car into a pedestrian median on the West Side Highway, killing CBS News correspondent Bob Simon, reportedly had nine previous license suspensions and two moving violations—and only one functioning arm after a failed suicide attempt.
Bob Simon (Getty Images)
, driver Reshad Abdul Fedahi "lost the use of his left arm after he jumped from a Brooklyn building in a suicide attempt about a decade ago." A resident who lives at the same homeless shelter as Fedahi said, "He has a messed-up arm. One arm doesn’t move at all. He does everything with one arm."
The Post's sources say that Fedahi only had one hand on the wheel at the time of the Wednesday night crash. Police believe the Fedahi hit the gas, not the brakes, when heading south on the West Side Highway. Traffic had stopped for a red light, and the livery cab hit the driver's side of a Mercedes Benz and then "careened into metal stanchions separating the north and south bound traffic."
Both Simon, 73, and and Fedahi, 44, had to be cut out of the car. Simon was not wearing a seat belt, and suffered head injuries and a broken neck. He died at Roosevelt Hospital
Fedahi is in the hospital with broken legs and a broken arm. His cousin Rauf Sharif told the Daily News that "he complained of having 'a sharp pain' in the chest before the wreck and thinks he may have had a heart attack." Sharif said, "He remembered coming very slowly to the light, and then all of a sudden, he just blacked out. He didn't know what happened. He said, 'I lost myself.’"
Fedahi was on a probationary license with the TLC; it has been suspended now. From the Post:
He 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.
His car was owned by Travez Transportation, and when he wasn’t working, he would use it to ferry pals from the homeless shelter where he lived on Wards Island to Manhattan, friends said...
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.
The police investigation into the crash is still continuing. Fadehi has not been charged.
Simon led a storied career reporting from war zones around the world and wrote a book about the 40 days he spent as a hostage in Iran during the Gulf War. He was in his 19th season with 60 Minutes, where his final segment, about Ebola, will air this Sunday.
60 Minutes executive producer Jeff Fager said, "It is such a tragedy made worse because we lost him in a car accident, a man who has escaped more difficult situations than almost any journalist in modern times. Bob was a reporter’s reporter. He was driven by a natural curiosity that took him all over the world covering every kind of story imaginable."
Tagged
bob Simon
crash
livery cab
west side highway
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
How NYC voters could determine outcome of race for governor
The Democratic governor got a startling lesson four years ago in the importance of turnout in New York City.
By
Jon Campbell
Published Oct 29, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. ET
Early Addition: Is the Cheesecake Factory vs. the Amtrak buttercake our new culture war?
Because they're raving about the little cake you can only get in first class on select trains, here are your early links: Hunting for Bigfoot is big in New Jersey, the East Village got a kitschy wedding chapel, "Slime Square-42 St," and more.
By
James Ramsay
News
Early Addition: Is the Cheesecake Factory vs. the Amtrak buttercake our new culture war?
Because they're raving about the little cake you can only get in first class on select trains, here are your early links: Hunting for Bigfoot is big in New Jersey, the East Village got a kitschy wedding chapel, "Slime Square-42 St," and more.
By
James Ramsay
Brooklyn woman hit and killed by garbage truck at Bay Parkway, NYPD says
By
Ryan Kost
NY's housing crisis is on the ballot. Here's what the candidates say they'll do about it.
By
David Brand
Brooklyn's Ocean Parkway is a haven for reckless driving. Mamdani isn't allowed to fix it.
By
Stephen Nessen
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .