No street lights doesn't imply pitch black. It may imply poorly illuminated. I can't find a date, only a time, so I can't guess at lunar illumination or cloud cover.
But we don't know how many other vehicles were on the road and what light they were casting. The bystander who reported witnessing the crash was within visual distance, so couldn't have been too far ahead of the MachE. It wasn't reported if there were any other vehicles. If you have enough vehicles on the road (with their lights on) lack of overhead illumination isn't too significant.
