Coyote in Daylight Friendswood

I've seen a coyote at night in this bedroom community of Friendswood. And families who live along the creeks in town have recently lost their small dogs to coyote dinners. But I've never seen a non-plused coyote in the daytime until earlier this summer. On a Saturday morning in mid-June this coyote casually trotted along in front of my truck for about 100 yards as I drove down a paved lane about 1/4 mile from my house. I took the photo from my camera phone from the cab of my truck, so the quality is not the greatest (low pixel count, no zoom). Its tail is not distinguishable but it was fluffy down its whole length and was held in a downward, but not tucked, position. And the thing was large, bigger than any I've seen. But then again, I've not seen that many.
A recent article in the Columbia News Service, Coyotes take up residence in suburbia, attributes the increase of coyotes in suburbia to human encroachment into their habitat. That may make sense now, but 30-40 years ago, coyotes were not common in the eastern U.S. even in rural areas. This from an article I read several years ago which noted that the explosion is due to their high reproduction rates, adaptability and the lack of farmer hunting pressure. As farm population has decreased, so has the hunting pressure on the varmint. And at least in Friendswood, they are encroaching on us, not visa versa.