Pierce Brosnan pleads not guilty to charges from Yellowstone incident

James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan, 70, pleaded not guilty to charges that he hiked in an area off-limits to visitors at Yellowstone in November.

Brosnan was in Wyoming filming The Unholy Trinity, which has not yet released, when he visited Yellowstone.

Photos posted online show Brosnan in off-limits areas, which led to the charges of “Foot travel in all thermal areas and w/in Yellowstone Canyon confined to trails … and Violating closures and use limits,” according to Wyoming court documents.

The rules are meant to protect hikers from the hot springs in Yellowstone, and the hot springs from hikers.

The risk

“Hot springs have injured or killed more people in Yellowstone than any other natural feature,” the park’s website states. “Water in hot springs can cause severe or fatal burns, and scalding water underlies most of the thin, breakable crust around hot springs.”

“Always walk on boardwalks and designated trails,” it adds.

“Maybe Pierce Brosnan should have read about 23-year-old Colin Scott before he allegedly decided to walk out of bounds in a dangerous thermal area in Yellowstone National Park in November,” The Mercury Times wrote in a piece this weekend.

“In 2016, the Portland, Oregon man slipped and fell to his death in a hot spring near one of Yellowstone’s famous geysers … He and his sister allegedly left the boardwalk trail and walked more than 200 yards into the off-limits Norris Geyser Basin when the accident happened," the Times said.

Too special

It's easy to find examples in most daily activities of people who think they are too special to follow the rules that everyone else is expected to follow--even if they aren't big stars like Brosnan.

He's just lucky that nothing bad happened when he allegedly went off the designated path like it has to a number of other people who assumed nothing bad would happen to them, only to lose their lives.

If he is convicted, he faces a fine of up to $5,000 or up to six months in jail.

He is unlikely to get any jail time for his actions. The judge already granted his request not to have to appear on January 23 as scheduled, scheduling instead a virtual conference on February 20.

Learning a lesson

Brosnan's actions have hopefully brought national attention to the danger of going into off-limits areas at Yellowstone.

His mistake could save the lives of others whether anything actually happens to him because of it or not.