In Comba v. Ridgefield, 177 Conn. 268, 270, 413 A.2d 859 (1979), the court held that, as a matter of law, an overhanging branch that fell from a rotted tree located near a highway onto a motor vehicle, injuring a passenger inside, did not constitute a defect as contemplated by General Statutes 13a-149, the municipal highway defect statute. The court explained: "The condition alleged . . . did not obstruct, hinder or operate as a menace to travel. It was a condition that could cause injury, but that injury could result even to one who was not a traveler on the highway. A person could be injured by the limb; but the use of the highway, as such, would not necessarily have led to the injury." Comba v. Ridgefield, supra, 177 Conn. at 271.