In California, are gas powered remote control cars legal on the streets?

I heard gas powered remote control cars cannot be played on the streets? Is that true? I have a neighbor who lets his son play his remote control car on the street of our house. It is soooo loud! It sounds louder than a lawn mower. Someone has told me that it is illegal to play on the street. I can't find that on the web. Can anyone help?

They should not be on the streets. The instruction manual that comes with them even says so. There are special tracks and places to operate them.