Deliberate staring at a laser beam can cause permanent blind spots. This has been known to happen in people who stared into the laser on a dare by others, inebriated individuals and uninformed, innocent victims. If the person was looking straight at the laser, the burn will be in the center of a person's vision.

Can laser pointer blind me?

Possible more potentially damaging -- although not to the eye -- is that a regular pointer laser can overwhelm the eye with light, typically called flash blindness. If a person is walking a rocky path, operating machinery, a vehicle or aircraft, this temporary loss of vision could cause injury or disaster.

What happens if a laser hits your eye?

Laser irradiation of the eye may cause damage to the cornea, lens, or retina, depending on the wavelength of the light and the energy absorption characteristics of the ocular tissues. Most of the radiation is absorbed in the lens of the eye. The effects are delayed and do not occur for many years (e.g.; cataracts).