It is a superlative that Suffolk County officials are not bragging about: Every year since at least 2001 the county has recorded more crashes involving alcohol than any other county in New York. Also: More people have died in alcohol-related crashes in Suffolk during that time than anywhere else in the state.

Nassau County has followed in second place in both categories in many of those years, helping to give Long Island a reputation as the drunken-driving capital of New York.

That status seemed to be reaffirmed last weekend when a pickup truck slammed into a limousine carrying eight young women in Suffolk County, killing four and critically injuring two. The driver of the pickup truck was charged with driving while intoxicated. The investigation into the crash continued on Friday, as the region’s restaurants and bars prepared for another busy summer weekend, people planned barbecues and picnics and law enforcement agencies stepped up their vigilance for drunken drivers.

Long Island officials acknowledge the gravity of drunken driving. Yet in interviews this week, they also cautioned against oversimplifying complex crash data, saying that the absolute number of alcohol-related crashes is an incomplete and misleading yardstick when comparing counties and measuring progress in dealing with the problem.