Mayor Rob Ford was photographed reading a document while driving on the Gardiner Expressway on Tuesday morning, prompting the police to issue an unusual plea urging him to begin using a driver.

“On behalf of all the citizens of Toronto that value road safety, Mr. Mayor ... please get a driver. It is obvious that you are busy enough to require one and no amount of money you are saving by not having one is worth the life of one of your citizens,” Sgt. Tim Burrows, a social media officer and former spokesperson for the traffic services unit, wrote on the official police Facebook page.(Later in the day, the statement was amended to end at “please get a driver.”)

The Tuesday incident was the third in just over a year in which Ford has been accused of unsafe or distracted driving. He was also convicted of drunk driving in Florida in 1999.

The photo was posted at 10:42 a.m. on Twitter. Told of its existence at an unrelated news conference later in the morning, Ford was unapologetic. “Yeah, probably,” he said flatly. “I’m busy.”

When a reporter followed up by asking whether he reads while driving, he said, “Yeah, probably. Trying to catch up on my work; you know, keep my eyes on the road, but I’m a busy man.”

When the reporter asked whether he doesn’t see a problem with reading on the Gardiner, he said again, “I’m busy.”

The news conference, held to announce a city trade mission to Chicago in September, was delayed from 11 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. because Ford was late. It is unclear what Ford was reading, but the text in the document captured by the photo has the large font Ford often uses for his prepared speeches.

“I don’t know what that has to do with the trade mission, but anyways,” he said to conclude his exchange with the reporter. “Ridiculous questions sometimes.”

The photo showed Ford behind the wheel of his new Cadillac Escalade holding the document in his right hand. The person who posted it, Ryan Haughton, said it was taken around 10 a.m. near Jameson Ave. as eastbound traffic moved at about 70 km/h.

Haughton later deactivated his Twitter account and did not respond to an interview request. He had directed the photo to radio host Dean Blundell, who frequently mocks Ford on 102.1 the Edge. “@ItsDeanBlundell look at the pork chop Ford reading and driving on the Gardner #leadingbyexample,” Haughton wrote.

Haughton’s tweet came to widespread attention when it was retweeted by Adrienne Batra, Ford’s former press secretary and now a Toronto Sun editor.

Const. Clint Stibbe said the police “certainly don’t condone” reading while driving but that doing so is not a “chargeable offence” in and of itself.

The province’s distracted driving legislation deals specifically with the use of handheld electronic devices such as phones. While the Highway Traffic Act says anyone driving “without due care and attention” is guilty of careless driving, a driver must usually commit three separate offences before police level a charge, Stibbe said.

“Let’s say somebody is reading a book. Their vehicle goes out of control and strikes somebody, or can’t stay in the lanes, constantly going from one lane to another, no signals, a conglomeration of issues. Then you could look at a charge of careless,” he said.

Previous mayors have had employees serve as their drivers, but Ford, who made his name railing against perks for politicians, has insisted on driving himself. Councillor Doug Ford said again on Tuesday that his brother should change his mind.

“Absolutely, 100 per cent,” Doug Ford said.

In July 2011, Ottilie Mason said she saw Rob Ford illegally using his cellphone while driving; after she and her 6-year-old daughter gave him a thumbs-down gesture, she said, he gave them the finger. Ford called the incident a “misunderstanding,” but he soon began using a hands-free phone system.

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In June 2012, Ford was confronted by a streetcar driver after he drove past the closed back doors of the vehicle when the front doors were open. A police spokesperson said it is safest to stop behind all streetcar doors but only illegal to drive past open doors.

As a councillor and for most of his tenure as mayor, Ford burnished his everyman image by driving around the city in an old minivan with a “ROB FORD” vanity plate. He later changed the plate to “DON BOSCO,” the name of the high school whose football team he coaches.

In July, he became both less and more conspicuous on the roads: he switched to a standard plate, but he began driving the large luxury SUV his brothers bought him as a gift for his 43rd birthday.