Because your eyes are insensitive to the light, your iris does not contract meaning more light gets in that would otherwise.
Source: Grade 12 physics A textbook I have on lasers Any stryopryo video
In the near future, you might not be able to look at a busy street without making visual contact with dozens of lidar scanners. It's already hard to avoid them in SF.
The video referenced in TFA was filmed from about as close as you might be to a scanner while walking on the sidewalk beside a lidar-equipped vehicle. Cars can get very close to pedestrians in busy cities, e.g. at pedestrian crossings. Exposure is much stronger at close distances. Therefore I think there is a significant risk here that has not been studied or tested for in depth.