Abstract: What is disclosed is a method for driving a laser scanner, comprising a beam deflection system for a laser beam emitted by a laser light source, wherein a minimum distance to be observed is determined in dependence on the laser power of the laser light source. During the measurement the detected object distance is compared with this minimum distance, and the laser light source is deactivated and/or the laser power is reduced if the detected object distance is less than the minimum distance. There is moreover disclosed a laser scanner for implementing this method.