EL PASO, Texas -- El Paso Police said traffic deaths are on the rise in El Paso, but nationally the numbers are on the decline.

After an accident in far east El Paso claimed the life of a Border Patrol agent early Thursday, KFOX has learned that the number of traffic-related deaths is on the rise in El Paso.

As of Thursday, El Paso Police said 12 people died from car accidents compared to eight around this time in 2009.

“People need to take care and caution when they’re driving their car, because… they are driving a 4,000 pound vehicle and it's capable of killing people," said El Paso police spokesman Mike Baranyay.

And pedestrian accidents like the one that happened on Mesa and Brentwood, where a man was killed as he tried to cross the street, are also on the rise. Officers said five people were killed in pedestrian accident so far this year, compared to one around the same time in 2009.

"Obviously that's a huge increase in pedestrian and traffic safety," said Baranyay.

Nationally, the number of people that died on U.S. highways took a dip a 9 percent dip in 2009. Thursday, the Transportation Department said traffic deaths declined to 33, 963 across the U.S., which is the lowest number since 1954. In 2008, 37,261 people died on highways.

As of November, El Paso Police said the top three intersections for traffic accidents are Joe Battle and Montwood, Joe Battle and Rojas, and Fred Wilson and Gateway North.