Misty Auwbrey, 26, had driven her friend's brother to visit a loved one's grave in Gilroy on Wednesday, said her aunt, Melodee Rohlff. The pair had just grabbed a bite to eat and were supposed to be on their way to Rohlff's house in Morgan Hill. Yet, about 8 p.m., traveling southbound on Columbet Avenue toward San Martin Avenue, Auwbrey's 2005 Honda Civic entered the intersection directly in front of a 1995 Ford F350 traveling westbound on San Martin, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The truck, driven by Stan Arnbrister of Gilroy, did not have a stop sign, though Auwbrey - who had been drinking, according to CHP - did. Rohlff did not know why Auwbrey was traveling southbound on Columbet in San Martin if she was on her way to Morgan Hill from Gilroy.

The truck hit the left front and side of the Honda, flipped and landed in a field nearby, according to the CHP. The Honda spun to the west on San Martin Avenue, police said. CHP Officer Jaime Rios did not know whether Auwbrey ran the stop sign posted for drivers on Columbet or whether she stopped, then proceeded into the intersection in front of the truck. Rios also was not sure if either vehicle was speeding at the time of the collision. Those details will come out during the investigation, he said.

Auwbrey was flown to San Jose Regional Medical Center with major head injuries. Police arrested her for drunken driving but did not book her into jail, instead releasing her to the hospital because of her severe condition.

The case will be forwarded on to the district attorney for review, Rios said.

Family members said Auwbrey was unconscious at the scene. Her 22-year-old passenger also suffered major head trauma and a dislocated shoulder, according to CHP, and was taken to the same medical center. Rohlff said the passenger had a small bruise to his ear and a broken elbow.

Arnbrister, 46, was transported to Valley Medical Center with complaints of pain to his neck, lower back and left shoulder, police said. Arnbrister was not able to speak over the phone but his wife, Tawny Arnbrister, said he has whiplash and "is in a great deal of pain."

The families of both drivers disputed who was to blame for the accident.

"That girl ran that stop sign," Tawny Arnbrister said. "Those were the first words out of my husband's mouth. She just came out of nowhere."

Tawny Arnbrister suggested that Auwbrey didn't realize there was a stop sign for Columbet Avenue travelers and said friends living in the area regularly report accidents at the intersection of Columbet and San Martin. Her husband's large Ford truck flipped not because he swerved - "he had no reaction time," she said - but because of the impact of the Honda, she said.

"She must have been going 80 miles per hour," Tawny Arnbrister said. "Had he been in any other vehicle, I'm pretty sure my husband would have been dead."

But Rohlff said Auwbrey stopped at the stop sign and the collision happened because the "truck was coming way faster than she expected."

Auwbrey suffers from severe nighttime blindness, Rohlff said, which is why she was headed to her aunt's house to stay the night instead of driving back to San Jose after dark.

"She's known to be a granny driver," Rohlff said.

A full-time student at San Jose City College, Auwbrey is raising her 6-year-old son on her own, Rohlff said. Her family fears Wednesday's accident will leave Auwbrey's son without a mother. Doctors hooked Auwbrey up to a respirator to help her breathe and shaved her long blonde hair before removing half her skull to relieve pressure from swelling, Rohlff said. Friends and family are welcome to visit Auwbrey at the San Jose Regional Medical Center's intensive care unit, Rohlff said.

"She's everything to our family," Rohlff said. "She has a golden heart."