It's still far less dangerous than a gun. The problem is people don't view in that category. "It's just a flashlight" vs "This is dangerous and if I use it improperly I can go to jail for a long time".
PS: When you consider how much damage someone can to with a car I think you will find causing damage for the lulz is not really that common.
The problem is that the beam propagates so far that, unlike if you want to injure someone with a car or a handgun, you are far removed from the effects of your actions and are much less likely to be identified.
I'd say that in terms of the combination of the range at which you can permanently disable someone, the ability to conceal the device, and the low visibility of "discharge", this is one of the most dangerous things I can think of.
Lasers are really hard to aim at long range. Simple trigonometry means you basically need to set up a computer and a telescope to get anywhere near your target.
If you want to cause damage there are plenty of ways of doing it. An iron bar sitting on a thin layer of electric insulation then sitting on the third rail of a subway will produce a shit ton of casualties once a subway car runs over it.
They're no harder to aim than a gun at the equivalent distance, and you get the added benefit of continuous emission rather than a single shot (and no wind drift or lead).
However, the tech specs for that laser show the "Nominal Ocular Hazard Distance" at which a 0.25s unprotected exposure does not cause lasting effects to be 149m. That's far, but not THAT far. So as long as the subject doesn't stare into the beam (which probably is more likely than you think given the brain's almost compelling instinct to look at sudden movements), you still have to get pretty close. (Unless you fit it with a collimator, of course.)
Bullets are dangerous when they hit a 1m^2 target, 1w lasers are dangerous when they hit a 1cm^2 target. Aiming at a 1m^2 target at 150m is hard, aiming at a 1cm^2 target at 150m is next to impossible.
Just how long do you think you can target someones eyes in a moving car? I am not saying a pilot or driver is not going to notice, but to cause actual harm would be really hard.
car != someones eyes in a car. First off the front windshield is going to act as a beam splitter and cut off 1/2 the power or less considering how dirty and scratched up the glass is). Second, safe exposure to the full beam for 0.000011s is not going to cause noticeable short term damage. These things are vary dangerous to friends playing in the backyard, but once you start taking about poeple at a distance in moving cars it really comes down to luck.
PS: At 60mph it takes 370 microseconds seconds to travel 1 cm. If you stuck one of these at the side of a subway tunnel facing the people inside (at eye level) at most you could cause mild short term damage. Trying to nail peoples eyes on cars on the freeway without some sort of tracking system would be really difficult. And obvious that something was happening.
PS: When you consider how much damage someone can to with a car I think you will find causing damage for the lulz is not really that common.