The laser doesn't need to be shone in from the front, the humans natural reaction when catching a light source in the peripheral vision is to glance toward the source of the light. Most laser reports have the light source to the left or right of track.
A laser pointer won't cause damage to the eye given those distances as the coherence of the beam would be severely degraded by both atmospheric effects and distance. It would just be a distraction and a dazzle.
Unfortunately there has been an explosion in the numbers of high powered lasers on the market, readily available. Not only are some of these things between 100-1000 times more powerful than what is legally allowed in the UK the beam intensity and spread are hardly affected at such distances.
These things can be weapons.
Many years ago I was dazzled by a strong light source from a Chinese Destroyer in the South China Sea. It was a long discussion back at base as to whether or not the act by the ship was to be considered a hostile act.
Personally I think the crew made the correct decision in returning to home base if the affected crew member felt he was capable enough of operating the PNF duties for the relatively short duration of the return flight.