system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: "You break it, you buy it". Is this rule legally enforceable in stores?

My understanding of this law is this: when a store puts that sign up, it is creating a unilateral contract which the customer is agreeing to by just walking into the store, even if they don't read it. Would that hold up in court though? Also, stores are legally required to have insurance, which would cover the cost of any damaged item. If I ever accidentally break something in a store, what is my best defense?
gpt
It is unlikely that a court would enforce a "you break it, you buy it" sign as a unilateral contract. If you broke something, refused to pay for it, and the store sued you, you would be sued in tort for damaging another person's property. The exact law governing the lawsuit would vary by state. Typically the question will be whether the person who broke the item was acting negligently, which is usually defined as "not exercising reasonable care." So if you break a statue in a store because you and your friends were playing hide and seek in the store and you ran into it, you were probably acting negligently. If you were just shopping and the store had the statute on a low shelf with a thin piece of it jutting way out into the aisle at foot level and you barely hit it with your foot on accident, you were probably not being negligent. Exactly what is "reasonable care" is usually a question for the jury to decide.

Your best defense would be that you were acting reasonably and that the store acted negligently by storing the item in a precarious position. Also, running into that poorly placed item really hurt you, so now you need the store to pay for your medical bills and mental anguish.