Car seat warmers put drivers in 'hot seat'

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DENVER, March 24 (UPI) -- Car seat-warmers can do more than just warm drivers up on a cold winter day -- they can overheat and burn your buns, KMGH-TV Denver reported Thursday.

Some 300 people across the country have reported that their car seats overheated, including Denver resident David Malone, who told the station his "biscuits were burning." The seat in his 2003 Volkswagen Passat got so hot, in fact, that it burned a hole in his leather seats and scorched his ski pants.

"I was surprised how hot it got and how fast it heated up," Malone said. "A few seconds later, I smelled some burning and then I saw some smoke coming up from the side of my seat."

The Denver station reported the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration has logged the complaints from owners facing the "hot seat," including 32 for the Passat.

An agency investigation into another popular Volkswagen, the Jetta, has been closed. Despite Malone's complaints, however, the NHTSA said that "such failures do not pose a significant risk of injury or fire."