The latest to see its market share savaged by a “market disruptor” –a euphemistic term for a company aiming to shake up the establishment – is the taxi industry.

Ride-sharing app Uber has provoked a turf war in the nation’s capital cities, plunging the taxi industry into unprecedented turmoil.

It lets you book a cab on your mobile with a few finger swipes.

You can track your driver’s progress on a map until they arrive and all payments are cashless, automatically deducted from your bank account via the app at the end of the journey. Oh, it's cheap too.  And you better believe Uber will eventually roll into Wagga.

Of course, a free market is precisely that, and plenty will welcome the convenience and downward price pressure Uber brings.

Anyone who has suffered the indignity of waiting at the Gurwood Street taxi rank in the early hours of a weekend morning knows our cabs can’t always be summoned at the clap of a hand.

But by framing the debate solely around price and convenience, we are missing a larger point. When you step inside a hire car, you are also paying for trust. Trust that the car – and driver – are safe.

By employing private vehicles and performing only cursory checks of drivers, Uber must be a less safe way to travel.

The company might be the living, breathing essence of unrestrained capitalism. But sometimes you need restraint, especially in a moving vehicle.