The agency is currently shifting through dozens of such reports, but Johnson Clifton Larson & Schaler, an Oregon law firm, says that it knows of at least 150 people injured by the convenience feature.
The investigation comes after safety advocate Sean Kane and burn doctor David Greenhalgh asked NHTSA on February 22 to reconsider its view on weather or not a vehicle has a defect, because seat heaters "that exceed human tolerance" are unsafe.
Greenhalgh is chief of burns at Shriners Hospital for Children in Northern California and says 105 degrees is the maximum temperature should ever reach to be safe. But he has treated a number of third-degree burns after 20 minutes in a car seat where the heater reached 120 degrees in one spot.
The safety body has announced it will do an analysis of its own data to "determine what actions, if any, are needed to address this issue."
Kane and Greenhalgh have talked to the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers as well, urging members to disconnect seat heaters for those with lower-body sensory deficits, set a maximum temperature for heaters and install timers that automatically turn them off, as some automakers already do. Alliance spokesman Wade Newton says it is discussing its official response with members.
General Motors, Chevrolet's parent company, states that it started putting seat-heater warnings in 2010 model year vehicles' owners manuals and has them in the manuals for all 2011 models with seat heaters.
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