TRANSLINK buses have been involved in almost 10,000 road crashes in the last seven years, new figures show.
More than 9,300 road collisions involving buses were recorded by the public transport operator since 2009.
One driver alone has been caught up in 12 crashes while operating bus services across the north.
The figures emerge a year after a bus depot crash that tragically claimed the life of a Co Tyrone mother-of-four.
Linda Stewart Rooney (48) was killed after being hit by a bus in the grounds of Lisburn bus station on Smithfield Street.
In another high-profile incident, an Ulsterbus crashed last month onto a beach on the Portaferry Road near Newtownards, Co Down.
The driver sustained minor injuries. There were no passengers on board the bus at the time and no other vehicles involved.
And in June last year a double-decker bus was engulfed in flames after catching fire on the M2, causing major traffic disruption.
The female driver managed to get all the passengers out of the vehicle when the alarm was raised.
The blaze on the Ulsterbus Goldline service from Belfast to Derry began about 40 minutes into its journey.
Translink said the incidents and collisions represented a extremely small fraction of the total number of bus services it operates.
The figures were obtained by The Irish News through a freedom of information request.
Almost 1,100 collisions were recorded by Translink in the period until from January to early November last year.
The largest number of crashes happened in 2009 with almost 1,600 recorded by Translink.
Since 2009 just more than half of the collisions occurred on Ulsterbus services with the remainder involving city Metro buses.
Around two-thirds of crashes, about 6,000 incidents, involved other vehicles.
More than 860 collisions involved 'road furniture' and a further 840 involved 'vegetation'.
Animals were caught up in around 40 collisions, according to the figures.
The PSNI, Health and Safety Executive and Translink had launched investigations into the Lisburn bus depot tragedy on December 29 2014.
It is believed the Ulsterbus was in a depot bay when it unexpectedly mounted the kerb and crashed into a wall where Ms Rooney was waiting.
Ms Rooney, who lived in Lisburn but was originally from Dungannon, worked as a cleaner at Tonagh Primary School and a cook at Lisnagarvey High in Lisburn.
Following the Christmas holiday tragedy, colleagues fondly described her as a "good friend with a heart of gold".
Mourners at her funeral were told Ms Rooney had "so much more to live for had it not been for this tragic and unfortunate accident".
At the time Translink said the bus driver was "badly shaken" by the tragedy and would be offered support by the firm.
