I totally agree, he was very lucky indeed. It's good to hear he is ok, that's the main thing, shame about the car though. It just goes to show just how much damage a clio will take but still keep you safe. You have to to give Renault 10/10 for safety factors.
I had a 1.4 RT Alize 3 years ago. I had been complaining to Renault and other garages that the steering seemed to just suddenly go light and felt like it was driving on ice, unfortunately they reckoned they couldnt find a problem with it, but 2 weeks after its 1st MOT I was driving along doing 40mph when without warning the car lept off the road and I landed in a bush. The car looked fine to look at it but when it was dragged out it looked abit sorry for itself. It was unfortunately a total write off, due to floor panels and various other damage. The good part though was neiter me nor my friend got so much as a scratch, the car took 'all' the impact, and that's what made me go and buy another Clio. I didn't think I could get a better advert for safety that that! By the looks of things neither can your mate, if he'd been in another car he may not have been so lucky.
I have driven may cars and I truely believe the Clio is probably the most stable and safest car I have ever driven.
My condolences to your mate about his car, but at least he's still alive to tell the tale.
Debz XXXxxx