Govind Tekale
A six-year-old boy died on September 23, 2026, after his father accidentally backed a Tesla Cybertruck into him in the driveway of a home near Temecula, in Riverside County. The California Highway Patrol is investigating the death and had not completed its review of vehicle footage and other evidence as of that evening.
The boy, identified by the Los Angeles Times as Preston El Guindy, was struck in the driveway. CHP told the Times the initial evidence pointed to an accident and that no arrest had been made. The vehicle was not operating on autopilot at the time of the incident; the father was driving manually. The father was identified in media reports as Tarik El Guindy, 48, described as a bodybuilding judge and media personality.
Driveway backover deaths are a documented and persistent cause of child fatality in the United States. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration tracks these incidents, which account for hundreds of deaths annually — the majority involving children under five and adults over 70. The physics of driveway reversals creates blind zones behind most vehicles that rear-view cameras were specifically mandated by federal law to address. Since May 2018, all new vehicles under 10,000 pounds sold in the US have been required to include rear-view cameras.
The Cybertruck’s rear camera and backup sensors are standard features on the vehicle. Whether those systems were functioning as designed, whether alerts were triggered, and whether driver awareness was a factor are all questions the CHP investigation is expected to address. Based on available evidence at the time of reporting, no finding has been made on those questions. For background on how rear-view cameras and backup collision-warning systems work in large vehicles, see our vehicle safety technology explainer. For NHTSA data on backover deaths and regulatory history, see our road safety guide.
Temecula is located in Riverside County, approximately 60 miles north of San Diego. The CHP has not announced a timeline for completing its investigation. This story will be updated when the official findings are released.
