My buddy was almost killed in the same way as your friend. Coming home from work some old guy comes out from a parking lot making a left turn. My buddy t-boned him. I was behind him by only a couple of minutes and came up on the accident scene. I can tell you it shook me up pretty bad. I didn't know it was him at first but recognized his bike and I went cold all over. He was face down in the street with a couple of people kneeling next to him. There was a his large growing pool of blood coming out of his helmet and I thought he was gone. Then I saw his foot move and I almost cried. That's one tough mother F-er. His grocery list of injuries were, punctured lung, ruptured spleen, broken wrist, broken ulna, knocked out almost all his teeth, shattered most of the bone in his face, oh yeah and broke his jaw. He had a full face helmet but when his bike hit the car he went face first into the car. The helmets face isn't padded and his jaw and teeth impacted there. The padding at the forehead area didn't do a thing and his face impacted the helmet around the opening for the eyes breaking his face like an egg shell. The handle bars twisted and acted like a dull spear into his chest. He was laid up for several months in plaster and tubes.
The old guy said he never saw my friend coming. (They never see us, do they) The police report showed that there was a very short skid mark from the bike but my buddy was going about 35 mpg. All that from 35 mph.
After that I armored up like a fricken Abrams tank. I've relaxed a little since then but I wear a spine protector along with my normal gear all the same.
A word to the wise, If you're in a head on and have the clarity of mind before you hit, turn your head.