An autopsy has ruled the death of longtime CBS News and "60 Minutes" correspondent Bob Simon accidental.
The New York City medical examiner says Friday that Simon died from blunt-force injuries to his head, torso and extremities and had fractures.
Simon, who built a reputation as a "reporter's reporter" over a five-decade career covering everything from War to the movie "Selma," was in the back seat of the black Lincoln Town Car that lost control near West 30th Street and 12th Avenue on the West Side Highway and slammed into a Mercedes stopped at a red light. Simon's car careened into metal stanchions, trapping him and the driver inside.
Police say Simon was not wearing a seatbelt when the car crashed. The law does not require livery car passengers to wear seatbelts.
Authorities tell CBS that Simon was thrown from the back seat to the front of the car.
The livery cab driver, Reshad Abdul Fedahi of Queens, had minor injuries. The other driver had two broken legs and a broken right arm.
Both drivers were given Breathalyzer tests, and those tests showed neither man had been drinking, police said. The cause of the crash remains under investigation, and authorities hope a black box in Simon's car will lend insight into what happened. Speed and other factors are being considered.
Simon won 27 Emmy Awards and multiple Peabody honors for his reporting, CBS News. He was also the recipient of broadcast journalism's highest honor, the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award, for "Shame of Srebrenica," a "60 Minutes II" report on genocide during the Bosnian War.
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Simon lived in New York with his wife Francoise, according to a biography on the CBS News website. Their daughter Tanya is a producer for "60 Minutes."
