Bob Simon wasn't wearing seatbelt at time of car accident death

NEW YORK CITY (KGO) -- New York City police say longtime "60 Minutes" correspondent Bob Simon wasn't wearing a seatbelt when he was killed in a car crash Wednesday night.

Investigators say the town car Simon was riding in hit another car stopped at a Manhattan traffic light and then slammed into metal traffic barriers.

Seatbelts aren't required to be worn by passengers in taxis, town cars or limos.

Colleagues at CBS News fought back their grief as they praised Simon as a talented journalist who will be hard to replace.

"Bob Simon had a remarkable touch in terms of the command of the language, as well as the ability to put himself in places at a time where good reporting was needed," Charlie Rose said.

Simon's career in war reporting began in Vietnam.

He was captured by Iraqi forces near the Saudi-Kuwaiti border at the start of the Gulf War in 1991 and spent 40 days in an Iraqi prison.

Simon was on hand 25 years ago to the day for Nelson Mandela's release from prison.

He was 73.