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Germany: Bus driver's eye injured by laser pointer aimed by child

An October 5 2015 report in the British Medical Journal Case Reports describes a public bus driver who suffered retinal injury due to a schoolboy aiming a red laser beam into a mirror on the bus, reflecting into the driver’s eyes.

Diagram of laser pointer on bus

The 44-year-old driver stared into the laser several times, as he tried to identify the person holding the laser. He suffered blurred vision in his right eye immediately after the exposure, but waited 6 months before having his first complete eye exam.

The exam showed “spot-like retinal pigment epithelium disturbances temporal to the fovea of the right eye, with no abnormalities in his left eye.” The authors stated that “The subjective complaints and objective ophthalmological findings of this patient were consistent and strongly suggested that the repetitive exposure of the eye to the reflected laser spot 6 months previously had caused subtle but detectable injury to the macula.”

The authors concluded with two “Learning points”:

  • “We suggest that no laser pointers of any class are made available to children, since they are unlikely to understand the risks of permanent retinal damage.”

  • “For the safety of users and the general public, even low-energy handheld laser pointers should not be sold to children.”

The authors did not identify the location of the incident, but it may be Germany since three of the four authors’ institutions were in Germany. Additional analysis and commentary is below (click the “Read More…” link).

From Thanos S, Böhm MRR, Meyer zu Hörste M, et al. “Retinal damage induced by mirror-reflected light from a laser pointer” BMJ Case Reports. Retrieved online: 2015 Nov 05, doi:10.1136/bcr-2015- 210311.
Click to read more...

Germany: Two teens attacked with laser pointer at school; eye damage noted

Two teenage students had a laser pointer’s beam deliberately and repeatedly aimed into their eyes while at school in Freudenstädt on September 23 2013. They both noticed vision problems and were examined by an eye doctor. One student had deteriorated visual acuity. The impact on the other student was not known and will be clarified by future studies.

The laser pointer had no markings so the power is unknown. This also will be studied so the strength of the beam is known.

According to police, the laser pointer attack was a dangerous assault. If there is also significant permanent damage to eyesight, a charge of aggravated assault may be considered.

From Schwarzwaelder-bote.de (original German version and Google machine translation into English)

Germany: 11-year-old suffers eye injury from classmates playing

An 11-year-old boy suffered “irreparable damage” from a laser pointer deliberately aimed at close range by his classmates. The children were on a Heidelberg school playground. The laser was aimed from a meter or so, first into one eye and then into the other.

Afterwards, the boy could not see clearly and had a black spot in his visual field. He kept this from his parents for about three weeks, after which the boy was seen by Professor Stefan Dithmar and Dr. Stefanie Pollithy at the University of Heidelberg Department of Ophthalmology. Their diagnosis was “acute bilateral impaired vision and central scotoma.”

A journal article in Der Ophthalmologe has more information, but the full article requires a subscription. Jochen Pernstainer, who told LaserPointerSafety.com about the case, kindly provided several details from the article:

  • The schoolyard exposure lasted several seconds
  • The laser pointer was measured at 55 milliwatts
  • The boy had impaired vision and a black spot on both eyes
  • Nine weeks after the exposure his vision got a bit better

laser injury 11-yr-old boy left eye laser injury 11-yr-old boy right eye
Fundoscopic photos of the 11-year-old boy’s left and right eyes. Larger versions can be seen
here.


Dithmar told a local newspaper that the German Product Safety Act prohibits the sale of products that might cause harm to health, but “there is little that you cannot get on the Internet.”

Press report from die Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung (in German; an English Google-translated version is here). Journal article in Der Ophthalmologe, Vol. 109, No. 9 (2012), 907-910, entitled “Akute bilateral Visusminderung kit Zentralskotom bei einem 11-jährigen Jungen.” Thanks to Jochen Pernsteiner for bringing this to our attention.

Italy: Footballer says laser pointer not at fault for missed kick

A German football (soccer) player was flashed by a laser pointer from the stands, before taking a penalty kick. Striker Mario Gomez missed the shot, but later said “The laser pointer was there but it wasn’t the reason. I don’t have to look for excuses.”

The Champions League game was played October 18 2011 in Naples, between Bayern Munich and Napoli. Others on the Munich team had different opinions. Sports director Christian Nerlinger said “Laser points are not acceptable. It is a major disturbance and an impossible thing to do,” while midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger said “Of course it is guess [sic] but I think there is little you can do about it.”

From Monsters and Critics

Germany: Man charged with aiming at cars on highway

On March 2 2011, a 33-year-old man from Marienborn was arrested for aiming a laser pointer at passing cars on the A60 motorway. A patrol car was hit and was able to determine the man’s location. According to a machine translation, “...the man had felt in the anonymity of the skyscrapers seem fully secure. He stated that he wanted to reduce his aggression in this way.” (“...der Mann in der Anonymität der Hochhäuser scheinbar völlig sicher gefühlt. Er gab an, dass er auf diese Weise seine Aggressionen abbauen wollte.”)

He told interrogators that others “have often been blinded in the same way.”

From
Allgemeine Zeitung