Welcome to MCity, Michigan's ghost town of driverless cars

A 32-acre site recreating Michigan's roadways is the testing ground for technology that experts hope will be able to cut fatal auto crashes by 80%

For Sebastian, life is destined to be lonely. The short pedestrian will, for now, be the sole resident of a small city located near the University of Michigan's north campus. He'll pass time by stepping into oncoming traffic - while others watch on, never warning of an impending crash.

But Sebastian won't feel pain: he's a robot, created by students of the university's engineering school to assist researchers at MCity, a 32-acre environment that opened this week as a safe zone for testing driverless vehicles.