Girl Saves the Day, Gets Detention

Saving lives doesn't pay, at least for one 15-year old. The Monterey County Herald reports on a girl who pulled the emergency brake to stop a bus, only to get detention for being on the bus to start with.

Amanda Rouse was not supposed to be on the school bus, but might have averted a tragedy Wednesday when she managed to stop the vehicle after the driver fell out of her seat.

Rouse, a 15-year-old Marina High School student, was sitting behind the driver's seat and pulled the emergency brake when driver Christine L. Graves fell as she made the turn from Contra Costa Street onto Sonoma Avenue in Seaside about 8 a.m.

After Rouse pulled the brake, the bus hit two parked vehicles.

"We hit a bump and everything was going fast," said Rouse. "She fell off the seat and down the stairs."

The driver called to Rouse to pull the emergency brake.

"The back of her head was against the door," Rouse said. "I helped her up and then she called the station to help."

... Early Wednesday, Rouse felt ill while being bused to Marina High. Rather than calling in sick, she asked Graves if she could stay on the bus for a ride back to the bus yard. "I should have gotten off the bus and called my grandma," Rouse said.

Her grandmother, Sally Correll, said she was proud Rouse took quick and decisive action — but knows she made the wrong choice because she didn't call in sick to school.

"She is in trouble with school because she made the wrong decision," Correll said. "But I can't help but believe that she was where God wanted her to be."

Next time she'll know to let the bus crash and then flee the scene. That's what they've taught her in school anyway.