I recently purchased a 99 jeep Cherokee. I love the vehicle but one thing that has bothered me since the purchase. Does anyone else feel the gas pedal is way too close to the center hump in the vehicle. Sometimes it gets uncomfy holding my foot at such a weird position. Maybe its just me or is is a jeep thing?

 

That was done as a way to allow you to rest your foot in different positions on a long trip. It actually comes in handy if your Jeep is not optioned with cruise control. Try differing foot positions on the open highway and you will see that you can position your foot in a variety of positions and still maintain the same pressure on the pedal.

 

In all actuallity it is the other way around.
The center hump is too close to the gas pedal.

XJ's actually have the pedal assembly moved 1 1/2" to the left. Putting the pedal assembly off-center compared to the steering wheel.

As most driver's orient thier feet to the position sitting directly center of the wheel, the pedal shifted over to the left is a bit awkward.

In many instances, with earlier Cherokees (and alot of GC's) the accelerator was mistakenly pressed instead of the brake. This was most common when shifting into drive and starting off. Causing the Jeep to lunge or "take-off".
This cause hundreds of accidents and several deaths.
This was also the case with a model of Volvo (or Saab..can't remember which)

Jeeps solution: brake interlock (One stock item I would NEVER do without).
Also, I heard that Jeep also pulled the steering column over to alleviate some of the mis-alignment.

So, your last line is correct (in a way) It IS a Jeep-thing...but to be more exact, Its a Cherokee-thing.