The Beijing Traffic Management Bureau is installing a hi-tech new system in key areas of the city to clamp down on drivers who indiscriminately use their horn, Beijing Youth Daily has reported.

Consisting of three parts – a microphone acquisition device, an electronic capture and an LED prompt system – the new system can reportedly distinguish between the sounds of horns, brakes and engine noise.

"The detectors can accurately collect honks," said Li Jianfeng, deputy director of the bureau’s Scientific and Technical Information Department.

The story as reported in Beijing Youth Daily. /VCG Photo

"Even parallel vehicles can be identified based on their position in each lane. The recognition locator feature can reflect the direction the honks are coming from, so there will be no misjudgment," he told the paper.

Similar to a speed camera, the system can photograph the license plate of offending vehicles so the driver can be traced and prosecuted.

According to The Measures of Beijing on the Implementation of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Road Traffic Safety, a hasty honk lands a motorist with a 100-yuan (14.76 US dollars) fine.

The paper did not reveal where the new traffic monitoring system is being installed or what constituted excessive honking.