Now that high energy lasers are finally becoming practical for military use we will start seeing blinded casualties in major conflicts. Lasers will be used to attack vehicles and if one of the occupants happens to be looking toward the emitter then it's tough luck.
The ban on laser blinding weapons was precipitated by the 1995 public announcement of a practical laser blinding weapon created by the Chinese arms manufacturer Norinco: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZM-87
