Report: Bob Simon Driver Has Troubled Past

CBS newsman Bob Simon’s black-car driver was a rookie with nine license suspensions who is suspected of speeding during the fatal crash — and had just one hand on the wheel because he had a “dead” left arm from a suicide attempt, sources said Thursday.

According to The NY Post, investigators believe Abdul Reshad Fedahi, a 44-year-old Afghan immigrant who lives in a homeless shelter, mistakenly hit the gas instead of the brake after sideswiping a car on the West Side Highway at about 6:45 p.m. Wednesday, law-enforcement sources said.

“He hit the gas pedal instead of the brake. He sped up after hitting the car,” a law-enforcement source told The Post.

“There were no skid marks,” a source said.

The Lincoln Town Car had been heading downtown in the left lane. It appeared to have been speeding — going up to 50 mph in a 35 mph zone — when it grazed a Mercedes-Benz C30 driven by Zachary Miller, 23, in the center lane near West 30th Street, law-enforcement sources said.

The Town Car then veered to the left, slamming into the metal barriers, or bollards, that separate the highway’s northbound and southbound lanes, sources said.

Simons, a “60 Minutes’’ correspondent and legendary war reporter, was sitting in the rear seat without his seat belt, sources said. He suffered a broken neck and severe stomach and head trauma.

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