I biked almost two years in South Texas and I can tell you that it is not a biker friendly place.
What an incredibly stupid statement.
South Texas and the entire state is plenty friendly to people on bikes.
This was an accident, a tragic accident. A driver was blinded by the afternoon sun and could not see a couple of people on a bicycle. It's not like the guy was out to run someone over. "Friendly" does not have anything to do with it.
I am sure that the man driving the truck is feeling really shitty right now. He killed a Naval Officer and hurt another rider and didn't mean to. This kind of thing is as likley to happen anywhere you have a setting sun and people on bikes.
The last thing that I want to do is talk bad about the decision making process of someone who died a tragic death, but going for a bike ride on a 2 lane road, with no shoulders, where the speed limit is significantly different from bike speed (up to 70 mph), is not a properly ORM'd activity.
The swiss cheese lined up for these guys. It sucks. It's tragic. But it does not have anything to do with an area being "biker friendly".
Sorry if I sound crass, maybe I have been working in the casualty office for to long.